A.POLICY

Zane State College is committed to maintaining a workplace and an academic environment free of discrimination, harassment, and intimidation. Therefore, the College shall not tolerate discriminatory, harassing, or intimidating behavior by or against its employees, candidates for employment, vendors, customers, students or any other person participating in a College program or activity.

Employees and students are expected to assist in the College’s efforts to prevent discrimination, harassment, or intimidation from occurring. Administrators, supervisors, and employees who have been designated to act on behalf of the College are specifically responsible for identifying and taking proper action to end such behavior.

While the College does not tolerate any form of discrimination, harassment, or intimidation the Non-Discrimination, Anti-Harassment, and Intimidation Policy and related procedures are intended to cover discrimination, harassment, and based on protected class. Protected classes for purposes of this policy are sex, race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, genetic information (GINA), military status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, status as a parent during pregnancy and immediately after the birth of a child, status as a parent of a young child, or status as a foster parent as those terms are defined in applicable Ohio Law, federal law, or by an effective Executive Order.

Anyone who is subjected to conduct that creates an intimidating or hostile environment, regardless if the conduct is based on a protected class, shall report the conduct to a person outlined in the Policy Guidelines section. If Human Resources determines that the conduct alleged to be creating an intimidating or hostile environment is not based on a protected class, the report may be referred for remediation according to the relevant policy.

In furtherance of these expectations, employees must participate in required training.

B.POLICY GUIDELINES

As used in this policy, the following terms are defined and will be adhered to as follows:

Discrimination - when a person, or a group of people are treated less favorably than another person or group of people on the basis of a protected class.

Discrimination may occur in several forms, such as:

1. Disparate Treatment - when an individual is treated differently from a person who is similarly situated because of membership in a protected class.
2. Disparate Impact - when a college policy, practice, or decision is based on neutral factors that have an adverse impact on a protected class.

Harassment - unwelcome behavior that creates a hostile, intimidating, or offensive environment, affecting an individual’s ability to work or learn. It involves conduct based on protected characteristics such as race, religion, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, or sexual

orientation, and can take many forms, including verbal, physical, or visual harassment.

In the interest of free speech, harassment is defined as “unwelcome conduct that is so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies an individual equal access to the individual’s education program or activity.”

Hostile Environment - occurs when the conduct at issue is so severe or pervasive that it creates an intimidating, abusive, or offensive environment regarding employment or academic decisions for a person in a protected class. A single instance of discrimination may be sufficient to create a hostile work environment.

Intimidation - means the violation of ethnic intimidation as defined in R.C. 2927.12.

DISCRIMINATION/HARASSMENT/INTIMIDATION INDICATORS AND EXAMPLES

1. Discrimination/harassment/intimidation may occur without direct employment, academic, or economic injury to the victim.

1. The harasser’s conduct must be unlawful, unwelcome, pervasive or severe and based on a protected class.
2. The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be a third party or anyone aware of, or affected by the offensive conduct.

Examples of discrimination/harassment/intimidation include, but are not limited to the following:

1. Conduct that explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s or group’s employment or academic achievement; unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance or learning ability; and/or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work or academic environment when that person belongs to a protected class;
2. Verbal behaviors or comments, slurs, jokes, recordings, videos, music and personal references or use of negative terms used to identify someone in a protected class;
3. Non-verbal, offensive, graphic communication (i.e., obscene hand or finger gestures), bullying, demeaning, insulting, intimidating, or suggestive written material, email, posters, graffiti, cartoons, other electronically transmitted messages or use of social media which are directed at someone because of a protected class;
4. Any other conduct that has the effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, offensive work environment, or unreasonably interferes with a person’s work, academic or athletic environment based on a protected class.

REPORTING RESPONSIBILITIES

Any person designated to receive complaints under this policy who has direct or constructive knowledge of alleged discriminatory, harassing, or intimidating behavior must immediately report the behavior to the appropriate individual. Failure to do so shall result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.

PROCEDURES FOR ACCEPTING AND INVESTIGATING ALLEGATIONS OF HARASSMENT/DISCRIMITION/INTIMINDATION

Complaints made in good faith will not be held against an employee or student in any way.

In cases of alleged discrimination/harassment/intimidation in employment or if the victim or alleged perpetrator is an employee, the complaint may be made to any of the following:

• the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Title IX Coordinator;
• a Deputy Title IX Coordinator/Compliance Officer;
• a supervisor, director, dean, chairperson, or other administrator;
• an employee of Human Resources; or
• College’s Campus Safety Officer
• Complaints and reports of harassment, discrimination, or intimidation can also be submitted anonymously using the College’s incident reporting system.

In cases of alleged discrimination/harassment/intimidation when the victim and/or alleged perpetrator is a student, a potential student, or someone participating in a college event, the complaint may be made to any of the following:

• the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Title IX Coordinator;
• A Deputy Title IX Coordinator/Compliance Officer;
• a dean, chairperson, or other academic administrator;
• the College’s official in charge of the event; or
• the College’s Campus Safety Officer.
• Complaints and reports of harassment, discrimination, or intimidation can also be submitted anonymously using the College’s incident reporting system.

Any employee who knowingly or maliciously makes a false or frivolous allegation of discrimination or harassment will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.

Any student who knowingly or maliciously makes a false or frivolous allegation of discrimination or harassment will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including expulsion from the College.

At the conclusion of an investigation, the outcome will be communicated to the impacted individuals, regardless of whether disciplinary action is taken.

CONSEQUENCES OF DISCRIMINATION/HARASSMENT/INTIMIDATION

1. Employees - any employee found to be in violation of this policy will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.
2. Students - any student found to be in violation of this policy will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including expulsion from the College.

ACADEMIC FREEDOM/FIRST AMENDMENT GUIDELINES

The College is committed to providing a safe, anti-harassing, non-discriminatory, and non-intimidating environment that protects the civil rights of individuals, and the

college recognizes theconstitutional protection of academic freedom in the classroom.

This policy is not intended to restrict serious discussion of controversial issues in a training or academic situation. In order to prevent claims that course content is discriminatory, harassing or offensive, or intimidating it is recommended that participants in such discussions are provided with a disclosure that the content may be controversial.

CONFIDENTIALITY

To the extent possible, all information received in connection with the reporting, investigation, and resolution of allegations will be treated as confidential, except to the extent it is necessary to disclose information in order to investigate, prevent or address the effects of the discrimination/harassment/intimidation, resolve the complaint or when compelled to do so by law. All individuals involved in the process should observe the same standard of discretion and respect for the reputation of everyone involved in the process.

RETALIATION

College policy and federal, state and local law strictly prohibits retaliation in any form against any employee, student, vendor, customer, or other person participating in a College program or activity who complains or reports an allegation, or who participates in an investigation of discrimination, harassment, or intimidation. Retaliation is a serious violation that can subject the offender to sanctions independent of the merits of the allegation. Allegations of retaliation should promptly be directed to the Title IX Coordinator.

TRAINING

All administration, faculty, and staff, shall receive training that will include information on how to respond to hate incidents or incidents of discrimination/harassment that occur during a class or event held at the College at the time the incident occurs. This training may be provided online.

1. POLICY HISTORY

• For additional information, please refer to prior versions of the College Handbook
• Policy revisions approved by Board of Trustees May 2017
• Policy revisions approved by President’s Cabinet and Board of Trustees January 2020
• Policy revisions approved by President’s Cabinet and Board of Trustees May 2021
• Policy revisions approved by President’s Cabinet and Board of Trustees November 2024

D.INITIATING DIVISION

Office of Human Resources