Title IX: Sex/Gender Discrimination

Title IX: Harassment and Non-Discrimination Policies

Below are the College’s policies as they relate to discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. In this section you will find the following:

1. Discriminatory Harassment Policy
2. Sex-Based Harassment and Non-Discrimination policy
3. Title IX Sexual Misconduct Policy

Discriminatory Harassment Policy

Discriminatory harassment is defined as any unwelcome conduct based on actual or perceived status including sex, gender identity, race, color, age, creed, national or ethnic origin, physical or mental disability, veteran status, pregnancy status, religion, sexual orientation, or other protected status. Discriminatory harassment should be reported to campus officials, who will act to remedy and resolve reported incidents. When discriminatory harassment is subjectively and objectively offensive and is so severe or pervasive that it unreasonably interferes with, limits, or denies the ability to participate in or benefit from the College’s educational or employment program or activities, sanctions can be imposed for the creation of a hostile environment.

Sex-Based Harassment and Non-Discrimination Policy

Otis College of Art and Design expects that all members of the community—students, faculty, instructors, staff, guests, and visitors—should be able to pursue their work and education in an environment free from sexual misconduct, violence, harassment, and intimidation. The College does not tolerate sexual misconduct, violence, harassment, or intimidation within the work or academic environment, as defined below.

Any sexual misconduct that unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work or academic performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, offensive, or otherwise adverse working or learning environment, can be a violation of this policy. Such examples may include, but are not limited to, the following: sex-based  harassment, sexual violence, sex or gender-based bullying, hazing, stalking, relationship violence, and failure to provide equal opportunity in any program or activity the College operates, including but not limited to admissions, student activities, employment, or professional development. 

Violations of The College’s Sexual Harassment and Non-Discrimination Policy

Sexual misconduct is a serious offense, and such violations are subject to any combination of conduct sanctions as described in Section 7: Formal Conduct Procedures with individuals found responsible for violation of the sexual harassment and misconduct policy facing a potential sanction of College suspension or College dismissal. Deviations from this range are rare and only made where there are compelling mitigating circumstances. Suspensions, if given, are based on satisfying conditions rather than administered solely for a period of time. Predatory, pattern and/or repeat offenders face dismissal, which may also be imposed for any serious offense whether pattern, predatory or repeat offending is evidenced or not. The other forms of sexual misconduct defined below cover a range of behaviors, and therefore a range of sanctions from warning to dismissal can be applied, depending on the nature and frequency of the misconduct. Definitions of specific College sexual misconduct policy violations are provided below.

Sex-Based Harassment

The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and the State of California regard sex-based harassment, a specific form of discriminatory harassment, as an unlawful discriminatory practice. 

Otis College has adopted the following definitions of sex-based harassment in order to address the unique environment of an academic community. One definition is required by federal law, and the other by state law. Both apply, and while they overlap, they are not identical.

California Sexual Harassment Definition

• unwelcome sexual advances, or

• requests for sexual favors, or
• other verbal, visual, or physical conduct of a sexual nature

• made by someone from in the work or educational setting*

• under any of the following conditions: 
  • submission to the conduct is explicitly or implicitly made a term or condition of an individual’s employment, academic status, or progress, or
  • submission to, or reject of, the conduct by the individual is used as the basis of employment or academic decisions affecting the individual, or
• • the conduct has the purpose or effect of having a negative impact upon the individual’s work or academic performance, or of creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work or educational environment, or

• • submission to, or rejection of, the conduct by the individual is used as the basis for any decision affecting the individual regarding benefits and services, honors, programs, or activities available at or through the educational institution. 

Sexual Violence, defined as

1. physical sexual acts**
2. perpetrated against a person without the person’s affirmative consent. 

Acts of sexual harassment may be committed by any person upon any other person, regardless of the sex, sexual orientation, and/or gender identity of those involved. 

Title IX Sex-Based Harassment, as an umbrella category, is a form of sex discrimination. It includes these specific definitions of sexual harassment, sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking and is defined as:

Conduct on the basis of sex,*** or that is sexual in nature, that has the effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work or academic performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive working or educational environment. There are two types of sexual harassment defined here:

• Hostile Environment: includes situations in which there is unwelcome, sex-based conduct that is, based on the totality of circumstances, subjectively and objectively offensive and sufficiently severe or pervasive/persistent, it limits or denies a person’s ability to participate in or benefit from the recipient’s education program or activity, from both a subjective (the Complainant) and objective (a reasonable person’s) viewpoint. The determination of whether an environment is “hostile” must consider circumstances that could include, but are not limited to, the following:

• How severely the speech and/or conduct influenced the complainant’s ability to access the educational program/activity;
• The type, frequency, and duration of the speech and/or conduct;
• The nature and severity of the speech and/or conduct;
• The age of both complainant(s) and respondent(s), roles each party holds within the education program and/or activity, previous interactions, and any other factor that could impact the evaluation of the speech and/or conduct;
• Whether the conduct was physically threatening;
• Whether the speech or conduct was humiliating;
• The effect of the speech or conduct on the Complainant’s mental and/or emotional state;
• Whether the speech or conduct was directed at more than one person;
• Whether the speech or conduct arose in the context of other discriminatory conduct; and
• Whether the speech or conduct unreasonably interfered with the alleged individual’s educational or work performance;
• Quid Pro Quo sex-based harassment exists when a person authorized to provide an aid, benefit, or service (i.e., employee, agent, or other such person) initiates or pursues unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature where submission to, or rejection of, such conduct results in educational or employment action.
• Sexual Exploitation: Taking non-consensual or abusive sexual advantage of another for one’s own advantage or benefit, or to benefit a person other than the one being exploited. Examples of sexual exploitation include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Prostituting another student;
• The trafficking of another person, defined as the inducement of a person to perform a commercial sex act, or labor or services, through force, fraud, or coercion;
• Non-consensual video or audio recording of sexual activity;

• Exceeding the boundaries of explicit consent, such as allowing friends to hide in a closet to be witness to one’s consensual sexual activity;
• Knowingly making an unwelcome disclosure of (or threatening to disclose) an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression;
• Knowingly soliciting a minor for sexual activity;
• Engaging in voyeurism (Peeping Tommery); and/or
• Knowingly transmitting a sexually transmitted disease/infection or HIV to another student.

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_{* The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Fair Housing Act requires — when an institution provides student and/or faculty/staff housing and sexual harassment occurs in an institution-owned residence — that the FHA/Title VII definition of sexual harassment will also apply in addition to the Title IX definition (use the definition of discriminatory harassment above, or the CA definition, to comply).} 

_{**A “physical act” includes both of the following:} 

_{***Including gender identity, sex characteristics, sexual orientation, sex stereotypes, and pregnancy or related conditions.}