Anti-Harassment and Retaliation Policy

United Way of Greater Lafayette (“UWGL”) will not tolerate harassment or discrimination of any kind in the workplace. This policy is to provide all persons associated with UWGL (employees, officers, directors, volunteers, and agents) with a work environment free from all forms and/or types of harassment. 

By “harassment” UWGL means unwelcome conduct, whether physical or verbal, that is based on a person’s race, religion, skin color, gender, nationality, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical abilities, pregnancy, disability, age, parental status, or other characteristic protected by law. This policy extends to each and every level of the organization’s operations. Accordingly, harassment by a fellow employee, manager, supervisor, officer, director, or non-employee doing business with UWGL, will not be tolerated. In furthering UWGL’s policy to provide all individuals with a work environment free from harassment, UWGL requires that all supervisors, managers, officers, and directors be responsible for the prevention and elimination of all forms of harassment within the organization. 

Examples of Harassment 

Sexual Harassment 

Sexual Harassment is a form of sex discrimination and is against the law. Acts that are considered to constitute sexual harassment include, but are not limited to, unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature where: 

• Submission to such conduct is either an express or implied term or condition of employment; 
• Submission to or rejection of such conduct is used a as a basis for an employment decision affecting the harassed person; or 
• The purpose or effect of such conduct is to substantially interfere with the affected individual’s work performance, or to create an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment. 

Specific examples of sexual harassment may include the following conduct where it is unwelcome to the recipient-employee: 

• Verbal comments, jokes, or propositions of a sexual nature; 
• The display or circulation of sexually suggestive or explicit visual or printed material; 
• The display in the workplace of sexually suggestive objects; or 
• Physical conduct of a sexual nature.  

Other Harassment 

In addition to prohibiting sexual harassment, unwelcome conduct, whether verbal or physical, will not be tolerated. Examples of such behavior include: 

• Epithets, slurs, insults, or negative stereotyping; 
• Acts or jokes that are hostile or demeaning, or are threatening or intimidating, with regard to an individual characteristic described in the policy above; and
• Written or graphic material that demeans, ridicules, or shows hostility toward an individual or group because of a characteristic described above.

UWGL is committed to safety. Violence in the workplace will not be tolerated and every effort will be made to prevent violent incidents from occurring. Prompt and accurate reporting of any and all violent incidents, whether or not physical injury has occurred, is required. Guns are not allowed in the workplace and objects that can or are intended to inflict harm on another are prohibited. 

All persons associated with UWGL are expected to be aware of this policy and of the types of conduct that may constitute harassment; as well as the avenues of assistance provided by UWGL for addressing complaints of harassment. Harassment, sexual or otherwise, serves no legitimate purpose and has a disruptive effect on individuals within the work environment. UWGL takes allegations of harassment very seriously and will actively investigate all complaints. 

Individuals are encouraged to report any incidents of harassment immediately before such incidents become severe or pervasive. UWGL seeks to prevent and stop harassment, before it rises to the level of a violation of law. An individual who believes that he or she has been subjected to sexual harassment or any other harassment described above should immediately contact one of the following individuals: 

• Report the conduct to any member of management with whom the employee feel comfortable.
• Report conduct to the CEO of UWGL.
• If the complaint involves the CEO then report the conduct to the Board President.  

Once a complaint has become known, the alleged incident will be investigated as quickly as possible, typically within seven business days. If appropriate action has not been taken within seven business days, the incident should be reported to the CEO. It is UWGL’s policy that all such matters will be handled with appropriate care and discretion and receives a thorough and neutral investigation. When an individual brings a complaint to the attention of any member of management, the CEO will be notified and UWGL will promptly undertake an investigation of the allegations. 

Such investigation may include all of the following: interviews with the complainant, the alleged harasser, witnesses, and with persons identified as having direct and personal knowledge of the incident(s) in question. During the investigation, UWGL will protect the confidentiality of harassment allegations to the extent possible. UWGL cannot guarantee complete confidentiality because it cannot conduct an effective investigation without revealing certain information to the alleged harasser and potential witnesses. However, UWGL will attempt to keep such disclosures to the minimum required under the circumstances on a “need to know basis.” If the investigation reveals that the allegations are valid, management will take prompt and appropriate remedial action against the offending person. Such measures are designed to put an immediate stop to the harassment as well as prevent its recurrence. Therefore, management retains the right to take whatever action it believes appropriate under the circumstances, up to and including discharge of the offending person. 

Retaliation against employees or others for reporting or complaining of sexual or other harassment (or for cooperating in the investigation of a report or complaint) will not be tolerated. Any act of retaliation will warrant disciplinary action, up to and including discharge of the offending person. 

Approved: October 28th, 2020