The Waterfront Project (WFP) is committed to a work environment in which all individuals are treated with respect and dignity. Everyone has the right to work in a professional atmosphere that promotes equal employment opportunities and prohibits unlawful discriminatory practices, including harassment. All relationships among persons in the office will be business-like and free of explicit bias, prejudice, and harassment.
WFP has developed this policy to ensure that all its employees can work in an environment free from unlawful harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. WFP will make every reasonable effort to ensure that all concerned are familiar with these policies and are aware that any complaint in violation of such policies will be investigated and resolved appropriately.
Any employee who has questions or concerns about these policies should talk with the Director of Human Resources or a member of the personnel practices committee.
These policies should not, and may not, be used as a basis for excluding or separating individuals of a particular gender or any other protected characteristic from participating in business or work-related social activities or discussions. In other words, no one should make the mistake of engaging in discrimination or exclusion to avoid allegations of harassment. The law and the policies of WFP prohibit disparate treatment based on sex or any other protected characteristic, regarding terms, conditions, privileges, and perquisites of employment. The prohibitions against harassment, discrimination, and retaliation are intended to complement and further those policies, not to form the basis of an exception to them.
Equal Employment Opportunity
The Waterfront Project (WFP) is an equal opportunity employer and values a diverse workforce. WFP does not discriminate against applicants or employees on the basis of race, creed, nationality, sex, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, genetic information, mental or physical disability, marital status, familial status, domestic partnership status, civil union status, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, atypical cellular or blood trait, military status, or any other category protected by federal, state, or other law applicable in the location of employment.
Retaliation
The Waterfront Project (WFP) encourages reporting of all perceived incidents of discrimination or harassment. It is the policy of WFP to promptly and thoroughly investigate such reports. WFP prohibits retaliation against any individual who reports discrimination or harassment or participates in an investigation of such reports.
Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment constitutes discrimination and is illegal under federal, state, and local laws. For the purposes of this policy, “sexual harassment” is defined, as in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Guidelines, as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when, for example: a) submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment, b) submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual, or c) such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 recognizes two types of sexual harassment: a) quid pro quo and b) hostile work environment. Sexual harassment may include a range of subtle and not-so-subtle behaviors and may involve individuals of the same or different gender. Depending on the circumstances, these behaviors may include unwanted sexual advances or requests for sexual favors; sexual jokes and innuendo; verbal abuse of a sexual nature; commentary about an individual’s body, sexual prowess or sexual deficiencies; leering, whistling or touching; insulting or obscene comments or gestures; display in the workplace of sexually suggestive objects or pictures; and other physical, verbal, or visual conduct of a sexual nature.
Harassment
Harassment on the basis of any other protected characteristic is also strictly prohibited. Under this policy, harassment is verbal, written, or physical conduct that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual because of his or her race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, marital status, citizenship, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law, or that of his or her relatives, friends or associates, and that: a) has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment, b) has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance, or c) otherwise adversely affects an individual’s employment opportunities.
Harassing conduct includes epithets, slurs or negative stereotyping; threatening, intimidating or hostile acts; denigrating jokes; and written or graphic material that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual or group that is placed on walls or elsewhere on the employer’s premises or circulated in the workplace, on company time or using company equipment by email, phone (including voice messages), text messages, social networking sites or other means.
Individuals and Conduct Covered
These policies apply to all applicants and employees, whether related to conduct engaged in by fellow employees or by someone not directly connected to The Waterfront Project (e.g., an outside vendor, consultant, or customer). Conduct prohibited by these policies is unacceptable in the workplace and in any work-related setting outside the workplace, such as during business trips, meetings, and business-related social events.
Reporting an Incident of Harassment, Discrimination or Retaliation
The Waterfront Project encourages reporting of all perceived incidents of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation, regardless of the offender’s identity or position. Individuals who believe that they have been the victim of such conduct should discuss their concerns with their immediate supervisor or the Executive Director.