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Making an employment decision based on a prohibited factor such as: race, gender, color, religion, national origin, age (40 and above), disability (mental or physical), reprisal (for prior EEO involvement), sexual identity or sexual orientation.
There are two theories of discrimination: (1) disparate treatment and, (2) adverse impact.
DCSA will only accept the forms located on our website as the forms contain specific requirements. All other versions of the forms will be rejected.
Disparate treatment occurs when an employee is intentionally treated differently from other employees who are in similar situations because of a prohibited factor (race, gender, color, religion, national origin, age (40 and above), disability, reprisal (for prior EEO involvement), sexual identity or sexual orientation).
Adverse impact occurs when a system is designed to treat everyone equally, but in reality, it more harshly impacts a certain protected group and it cannot be justified by business necessity.
Contact an EEO Counselor or the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity within 45 days from the date of the alleged discriminatory event.
Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination, which is a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It is any unwelcome, sexually-motivated verbal or physical conduct. The EEOC guidelines define two types of sexual harassment: "quid pro quo" and "hostile environment."
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute "quid pro quo" sexual harassment when either of the following occur:
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute "hostile environment" sexual harassment when such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.
The central inquiry is whether the conduct "unreasonably interfered with an individual's work performance" or created "an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment." The EEOC will look at the following factors to determine whether an environment is hostile:
Sexual conduct becomes unlawful only when it is unwelcome. The challenged conduct must be unwelcome in the sense that the employee did not solicit or incite it, and in the sense that the employee regarded the conduct as undesirable or offensive.
When confronted with conflicting evidence as to whether conduct was welcome, the EEOC will look at the record as a whole and at the totality of the circumstances, evaluating each situation on a case by case basis. The investigation should determine whether the victim's conduct was consistent, or inconsistent, with his/her assertion that the sexual conduct was unwelcome.
The victim may be anyone-- a man or a woman. The victim does not have to be of the opposite sex. The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct.
The harasser may be a woman or a man. He or she can be the victim's supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee.
It depends. In "quid pro quo" cases, a single sexual advance may constitute harassment if it is linked to the granting or denial of employment or employment benefits. In contrast, unless the conduct is quite severe, a single incident or isolated incidents of offensive sexual conduct or remarks generally do not create a "hostile environment." A hostile environment claim usually requires a showing of a pattern of offensive conduct. However, a single, unusually severe incident of harassment may be sufficient to constitute a Title VII violation; the more severe the harassment, the less need to show a repetitive series of incidents. This is particularly true when the harassment is physical. For example, the EEOC will presume that the unwelcome, intentional touching of a charging party's intimate body areas is sufficiently offensive to alter the condition of his/her working environment and constitute a "hostile environment."
Yes. The EEOC will evaluate the totality of the circumstances to ascertain the nature, frequency, context, and intended target of the remarks. Relevant factors may include:
The impact of Sexual Harassment can be severe. It may include, but is not limited to:
Yes. The policy should be prominently posted in every DCSA office. It can also be found at the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity Intranet site. Among other things, the policy clearly states that the Director, DCSA will not tolerate any type of sexual harassment at any level. The policy also advises that any substantiated complaints of sexual harassment will result in corrective administrative or disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal.