Sexual Harassment

Sexual Harassment is a form of gender-based discrimination prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It is defined by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as:

Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when submission to the conduct enters into employment decisions and/or the conduct unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment.

Types

• Quid Pro Quo – harassment that forces an employee to choose between the job and the demands. Quid pro quo means “this for that”.
• Hostile Work Environment – harassment that occurs when there is a repeated pattern of verbally abusive, threatening, crude, impolite or various other types of unprofessional conduct that impairs an employee’s ability to perform a job.

Complaints

Every complaint and/or report should be taken seriously and investigated immediately. The investigation should be documented. Also, the University must protect the confidentiality of all parties involved.

Contacts

• Federal – Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) - You have up to 300 days from the date of incident to file a claim with the EEOC.
  Phone: 1-800-669-4000
  Fax: 703-997-4890
  E-mail: info@ask.eeoc.gov
  Open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Central Time
• State – Texas Workforce Commission’ s Civil Rights Division (TWC) - You have up to 180 days from the date of incident to file a claim with TWC.
  Phone: 888-452-4778
  Fax: (512) 463-2643
  Open 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
• The University of Texas at Brownsville
  Michael Blanchard
  Assistant to the Provost/President for Legal Services
  80 Fort Brown - Old Education Bldg. Room 16
  Brownsville, Texas 78520 
  Phone: (956) 882–7829
• You can check on the HOOP (http://www.utb.edu/ba/hoop), ask your supervisor, go to Human Resources (Cortez 129) or call the Ethics Hotline (1-800-500-0333).