Escambia County Sheriff's Office Harassment Policy GO 449

Purpose and Policy

• The purpose of the directive is to maintain a professional work environment free of harassment and provide procedures for reporting, investigating, and resolving complaints of harassment in the Escambia County Sheriff's Office.
• The ECSO policy is to provide a working environment free from sexual harassment and discrimination, and to investigate all reported complaints fairly and impartially.
• All members are required to attend and complete a formal training class on Sexual Harassment/Diversity, either during their basic police training class or upon being hired as an employee.
• All members are required to complete designated training on sexual harassment once every two years.

Prohibited Activity

• Sexual harassment is defined as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.
• Four categories of prohibited conduct:
  • Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of employment.
  • Submission to or rejection of such conduct by a member is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting the member.
  • Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with a member's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.
  • Such conduct offends a person other than the person to whom the sexual conduct is directed.

Complaint Procedures

• Employees are encouraged to file a complaint in accordance with the procedure detailed in the directive.
• The complaint procedure includes:
  • Documenting all incidents of targeted harassment.
  • Reporting incidents to the immediate supervisor, Chief Deputy, Internal Affairs, the Administration Commander, or Human Resource Manager.
  • The Internal Affairs supervisor or designee will be responsible for the investigation of complaints alleging harassment.
  • The Internal Affairs Unit will maintain a file of harassment complaints in a secure location.

Responsibility

• Each supervisor is responsible for preventing acts of harassment, including monitoring the work environment, counseling members on prohibited behavior, and stopping any observed acts of harassment.
• Each member is responsible for assisting in the prevention of harassment by refraining from participating in actions that could be perceived as harassment, reporting acts of harassment, and encouraging others to report harassment.

Definitions

• Conditions of Employment: Those provided for by law, policy, or labor contract.
• Hostile Working Environment: Unwelcome conduct, based on gender, which consists of repeated incidents or is sufficiently severe, if a single incident, to alter the conditions of employment.
• Sex Discrimination: Any difference, distinction, or preference in treatment, access, or impact because of one's sex.
• Retaliation: To be considered retaliation, the following must occur: the employee engages in a legally protected activity, there is an adverse employment action, and there is a causal connection between the protected activity and the adverse employment action.
• Sexual Harassment: Unsolicited, offensive, and unwelcome behavior involving sexual overtures or conduct, either verbal or physical, based on sex.
• Sexual Harassment Complaint: A complaint must meet the three-part test: the conduct must be unwelcome, the complainant must communicate the conduct is unwelcome, and there is a subsequent occurrence of the unwelcome conduct (unless there is a sufficiently severe single incident).