Sexual & Gender-Based Harassment

Understanding Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment

Sexual Harassment is any unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favors, or other unwanted conduct of a sexual nature, whether verbal, non-verbal, graphic, physical, or otherwise, when the conditions for Hostile Environment Harassment or Quid Pro Quo Harassment, as defined below, are present.

Gender-Based Harassment is unlawful harassment based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, which may include acts of aggression, intimidation, or hostility, whether verbal, graphic, or physical, even if the acts do not involve conduct of a sexual nature, when the conditions for Hostile Environment Harassment or Quid Pro Quo Harassment are present.

Title IX Sexual Harassment is any conduct which occurs within the university’s education program or activity against a person located in the United States on or after August 14, 2020, that satisfies one or more of the following: (1) An employee conditioning the provision of an aid, benefit, or service on an individual’s participation in unwelcome sexual conduct (i.e., Quid Pro Quo); (2) Unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature determined by a reasonable person to be so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to an education program or activity (i.e., hostile environment); or (3) Sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, or stalking (as defined by the Jeanne Clery Act). University investigations of incidents that meet the definition of Title IX Sexual Harassment will be investigated pursuant to the Title IX Grievance Policy.

Types of Unlawful Harassment

Hostile Environment Harassment: Unwelcome behavior based on Protected Class(es) identified in the Nondiscrimination Policy, where the frequency and severity of the alleged harassing conduct effectively denies the individual’s ability to participate in or benefit from the education, employment, or university program or activity, when viewed from both a subjective and an objective perspective. For a hostile environment harassment claim, the record must establish that the Complainant(s) subjectively perceived the environment to be hostile, and that the environment was one that a reasonable person would find objectively hostile.

Quid Pro Quo Harassment: Unlawful harassment where submission to or rejection of unwelcome conduct is used, explicitly or implicitly, as the basis for decisions affecting an individual’s education (e.g., admission, academic standing, grades, assignment); employment (e.g., hiring, advancement, assignment); or participation in a university program or activity (e.g., campus housing).