Renton Technical College's Sexual Harassment Policy is "Zero Tolerance"

Renton Techical College  has a zero tolerance policy prohibiting sexual harassment. This means that, even if conduct doesn't meet the strict legal standards for sexual harassment, it may still violate the campus policy.

For example, an employee pats another's behind and says, "Nice butt." The conduct would probably not be considered sexual harassment in a legal sense, because it only happened one time, so the conduct wasn't "severe and pervasive."

The Federal Sex Discrimination Act requires Renton Techical College to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment from occurring. And that's why, under our campus policy, that act would be considered a violation. And even under a campus policy that applies the strict legal standard, it would be "unprofessional conduct."

The College employee who said "Nice butt," would be subject to corrective action because of the verbal conduct. Depending on the circumstances, corrective action could be a warning letter or formal disciplinary action ( i.e., suspension, demotion or termination of employment). Employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement should refer to their respective agreement.

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