98 Chabot College 2024-2026 STUDENT RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES “Hostile environment” sexual harassment occurs when unwelcome conduct based on a person’s gender is sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of an individual’s learning or work environment, unreasonably interfere with an individual’s academic or work performance, or create an intimidating, hostile, or abusive learning or work environment. The victim must subjectively perceive the environment as hostile, and the harassment must be such that a reasonable person of the same gender would perceive the environment as hostile. A single or isolated incident of sexual harassment may be sufficient to create a hostile environment if it is severe, i.e., a sexual assault. Sexually harassing conduct can occur between people of the same or different genders. The standard for determining whether conduct constitutes sexual harassment is whether a reasonable person of the same gender as the victim would perceive the conduct as harassment based on sex. Examples: Harassment includes, but is not limited to the following misconduct: • Verbal: Inappropriate or offensive remarks, slurs, jokes, or innuendoes based on a person’s protected status, including but not limited to sex. This may include, but is not limited to, inappropriate comments regarding an individual’s body, physical appearance, attire, sexual prowess, marital status or sexual orientation; unwelcome flirting or propositions; demands for sexual favors; verbal abuse, threats or intimidation of a sexual nature; or sexist, patronizing or ridiculing statements that convey derogatory attitudes about a particular gender. • Physical: Inappropriate or offensive touching, assault, or physical interference with free movement. This may include, but is not limited to, kissing, patting, lingering or intimate touches, grabbing, pinching, leering, staring, unnecessarily brushing against or blocking another person, whistling or sexual gestures. • Visual or Written: The display or circulation of offensive sexually oriented or other discriminatory visual or written material. This may include, but is not limited to, posters, cartoons, drawings, graffiti, reading materials, computer graphics or electronic media transmissions. • Environmental: An academic or work environment that is permeated with racially or sexually oriented talk, innuendo, insults or abuse not relevant to the subject matter of the class or activities on the job. A hostile environment can arise from an unwarranted focus on sexual topics or sexually suggestive statements in the classroom or work environment. An environment may be hostile if unwelcome sexual behavior or other harassing behavior based on a protected status is directed specifically at an individual or if the individual merely witnesses unlawful harassment in his/her immediate surroundings. The determination of whether an environment is hostile is based on the totality of the circumstances, including such factors as the frequency of the conduct, the severity of the conduct, whether the conduct is humiliating or physically threatening, and whether the conduct unreasonably interferes with an individual’s learning or work. CONSENSUAL RELATIONSHIPS Romantic or sexual relationships between supervisors and employees, or between administrators, faculty members, or staff members and students are discouraged. There is an inherent imbalance of power and potential for exploitation in such relationships. A conflict of interest may arise if the administrator, faculty member, or staff member must evaluate the student’s or employee’s work or make decisions affecting the employee or student. The relationship may create an appearance of impropriety and lead to charges of favoritism by other students or employees. A consensual sexual relationship may change, with the result that sexual conduct that was once welcome becomes unwelcome and harassing. If such relationships do occur, the District has the authority to transfer any involved employee to eliminate or attenuate the supervisory authority of one over the other, or of a teacher over a student. Such action by the District is a proactive and preventive measure to avoid possible charges of harassment and does not constitute discipline against any affected employee.
