Category: Policy on Equal Opportunity, Discrimination and Harassment

The College for Creative Studies prohibits retaliation against anyone who, in good faith, reports a violation of this policy or participates in an investigation of such reports.  Retaliation may include any adverse employment action that is caused by the employee’s complaint or participation in an investigation.  Retaliation is a serious violation of this policy.  Any person who believes that he or she has been subject to retaliation for making a good faith complaint of harassment or discrimination or providing information about such a complaint should bring this to the immediate attention of the Director of Human Resources or the Dean of Students.  All such complaints of retaliation will be promptly and fairly investigated.  Any person found to have retaliated against an employee for making a good faith complaint of harassment or discrimination or providing information during an investigation will be subject to corrective or disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.

The College’s foremost responsibility is to serve the educational interests of its students.  Relationships between the College and its students must be conducted with the utmost integrity.  Intimacies between College employees and students can compromise the integrity of the student-staff relationship.  Administrative staff members therefore should not engage in romantic or intimate relationships with students, even if the relationship is welcomed and wholly consensual.

Sexual harassment is a form of unlawful harassment and may include a range of subtle and not-so-subtle sexual behaviors involving individuals of the same or different gender.  Sexual harassment involves unwelcome sexual behavior (1) that creates a hostile or offensive work or educational environment, or (2) submission to which becomes a factor in employment or educational decisions concerning the employee or student.  Depending on the circumstances, sexual harassment may include sexual advances; sexual jokes and sexually suggestive objects or pictures; leering, touching, or commentary about a person’s body; or insulting or obscene comments, gestures or behavior of a sexual nature.

See CCS’s full Policy on Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault.

Harassment is unwelcome verbal or physical conduct that denigrates, or shows hostility or aversion toward, an individual because of his or her status as protected by law and (1) has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, (2) has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with an individual’s employment, or (3) otherwise adversely affects an individual’s employment opportunities. Examples of such conduct include (1) demeaning or hostile written, graphic, or verbal communications, including off-hand comments, epithets, jokes, emails, slurs or negative stereotyping directed at any individual because of or regarding that individual’s age, race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, height, weight, uniform service member status,  marital status, disability or any other characteristic protected by law; (2) hostile, intimidating or threatening conduct directed at an individual because of that individual’s status as protected by law.