Sexual Misconduct

What is Sexual Harassment?

Sexual Harassment is:

• unwelcome, gender-based verbal or physical conduct that is,
• sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive that it has the effect of unreasonably interfering with, denying or limiting someone the ability to participate in or benefit from MCC’s educational programs and/or activities, or work activities, and
• the unwelcome behavior is based on power differentials (quid pro quo), the creation of a hostile environment, or retaliation.

There are three types of Sexual Harassment:

1. Quid pro quo sexual harassment exists when there are:
   1. unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature,  and
   2. submission to or rejection of such conduct results in adverse educational or employment action; or
   3. affects the terms or conditions of education or employment, or activities with the college.
2. Hostile Environment includes any situation in which there is harassing conduct that is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive that it alters the conditions of employment or limits, interferes with or denies educational benefits or opportunities, from both a subjective (the alleged victim’s) and an objective (reasonable person’s) viewpoint.
   1. The determination of whether an environment is “hostile” must be based on all of the circumstances.  These circumstances could include, but are not limited to:
      1. the frequency of the conduct;
      2. the nature and severity of the conduct;
      3. whether the conduct was physically threatening;
      4. whether the conduct was humiliating;
      5. the effect of the conduct on the alleged victim’s mental or emotional state;
      6. whether the conduct was directed at more than one person;
      7. whether the conduct arose in the context of other discriminatory conduct;
      8. whether the conduct unreasonably interfered with the alleged victim’s educational or work performance;
      9. whether a statement is a mere utterance of an epithet which engenders offense in an employee or a student, or offends by mere discourtesy or rudeness;
      10. whether the speech or conduct deserves the protections of the 1^st Amendment.
3. Retaliatory harassment is any adverse employment or educational action taken against a person because of the person’s perceived participation in a complaint or investigation of discrimination or sexual misconduct.

Examples of Sexual Harassment include, but are not limited to:

• An attempt to coerce an unwilling person into a sexual relationship.
• To repeatedly subject a person to egregious, unwelcome sexual attention.
• To punish a refusal to comply with a sexual based request.
• To condition a benefit on submitting to sexual advances.
• Sexual violence which is defined as threatening or causing physical harm, extreme verbal abuse, or other conduct which threatens or endangers the health or safety of any person.
• Violence between those in an intimate relationship.
• Stalking that is gender-based which is defined as repetitive and/or menacing pursuit, following, harassment and/or interference with the peace and/or safety of a member of the community; or the safety of any of the immediate family of members of the community.
• Gender-based bullying which is defined as repeated and/or severe aggressive behavior likely to intimidate or intentionally hurt, control or diminish another person, physically or mentally (excluding speech or conduct otherwise protected by the 1^st Amendment).
• Gender expression/stereotyping which is defined as simplistic generalizations about gender attributes, differences, and roles of individuals and/or groups. Stereotypes rarely communicate accurate information about others.  When people automatically apply gender assumptions to others regardless of evidence to the contrary, they are perpetuating gender stereotyping.
• Hazing which is defined as acts likely to cause physical or psychological harm or social ostracism to any person within the college community on the basis of gender, when related to the admission, initiation, pledging, joining, or any other group-affiliation activity.
• Discrimination which is defined as actions that deprive other members of the community of educational or employment access, benefits or opportunities on the basis of gender.
• Intimidation that is gender-based which is defined as implied threats or acts that cause a reasonable fear of harm in another.

While a particular interaction must be offensive to both a reasonable person and to the complainant to be defined as harassment, MCC employees and other persons of authority should be sensitive to questions about mutuality of consent that may be raised and to the conflict of interests that are inherent in personal relationships that result from professional and educational interactions. Harassment is particularly damaging when it exploits the educational dependence and trust between students and faculty/staff. When the authority and power inherent in faculty/staff relationships with students, whether overtly, implicitly, or through misinterpretation, is abused in any way, there is potentially great damage to the individual student, to the accused individual, and to the climate of the institution.

It is the policy of the State Board for Community Colleges and Occupational Education that none of its employees or its Board members shall engage in any activity or relationship that places them in a conflict of interest between their official activities and any other interest or obligation.  Conflict of interest requires all employees to disqualify themselves from participating in a decision when a personal interest is present; therefore, SP 3-70a, Relationships, requires all employees involved in an amorous relationship to excuse themselves from any authority or evaluative role with respect to the other person.  Please refer to SP 3-70a for more information and disclosure requirements.

https://www.cccs.edu/policies-and-procedures/system-presidents-procedures/sp-3-70a-conflicts-of-interest-relationships/

Definitions

Complainant(s) is a person who is subject to the alleged sexual misconduct or related retaliation.  For purposed of this procedure, a complainant can be a MCC Employee(s), student(s), authorized volunteer(s), guest(s), or visitor(s).

Respondent is a person whose alleged conduct is the subject of a complaint.  For purposes of this procedure, a respondent can be a MCC Employee(s), student(s), authorized volunteer(s), guest(s), or visitor(s).

Sexual Misconduct offenses include, but are not limited to:

• Sexual Harassment
• Non-Consensual Sexual Contact (or attempts to commit same)
• Non-Consensual Sexual Intercourse (or attempts to commit same)
• Sexual Exploitation

Non-consensual sexual contact is:

• any intentional sexual touching,
• however slight,
• with any object,
• by any individual upon any individual,
• that is without consent and/or by force

Non-consensual sexual intercourse is:

• any sexual penetration
• however slight,
• with any object,
• by any individual upon any individual,
• that is without consent and/or by force.

Consent must be clear, knowing and voluntary.  Consent is active, not passive.  Silence, in and of itself, cannot be interpreted as consent.  Consent can be given by words or actions, as long as those words or actions create mutually understandable clear permission regarding willingness to engage in (and the conditions of) sexual activity.  Also, in order to give effective consent, one must be of legal age.  Further, consent to any one form of sexual activity cannot automatically imply consent to any other forms of sexual activity.  Previous relationships or prior consent cannot imply consent to future sexual acts.

Force is the use of physical violence and/or imposing on someone physically to gain sexual access.  Force also includes threats, intimidation (implied threats) and coercion that overcomes resistance or produces consent.

Coercion is unreasonable pressure for sexual activity.  Coercive behavior differs from seductive behavior based on the type of pressure someone uses to get consent from another.  When someone makes clear to you that they do not want sex, that they want to stop, or that they do not want to go past a certain point of sexual interaction, continued pressure beyond that point can be coercive.

Sexual activity with someone whom one should know to be—or based on the circumstances should reasonably have known to be—mentally or physically incapacitated (by alcohol or other drug use, unconsciousness or blackout), constitutes a violation of this procedure.

Incapacitation is a state where someone cannot make rational, reasonable decisions because they lack the capacity to give knowing consent.  Incapacitation could result from mental disability, sleep, involuntary physical restraint, or from the ingestion of rape drugs.  Possession, use and/or distribution of any of these substances, including, but not limited to Rohypnol, Ketamine, GHB, Burundanga, etc. is prohibited, and administering one of these drugs to another person is a violation of this policy. Having sex with someone whom you know to be, or should know to be, incapacitated (mentally or physically) is a violation of this procedure.

Use of alcohol or other drugs will never function as a defense to a violation of this procedure.

Sexual exploitation occurs when anyone takes non-consensual or abusive sexual advantage of another for his/her own advantage or benefit, or to benefit or advantage anyone other than the one being exploited, and that behavior does not otherwise constitute one of other sexual misconduct offenses.

Examples of sexual exploitation include, but are not limited to:

• Invasion of sexual privacy.
• Prostituting another person.
• Non-consensual video or audio-taping of sexual activity.
• Going beyond the boundaries of consent (such as letting your friends hide in the closet to watch you having consensual sex).
• Engaging in voyeurism.
• Knowingly transmitting a sexually transmitted infection (STI) or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to another person.
• Exposing one’s genitals in non-consensual circumstances; inducing another to expose their genitals.
• Sexually-based stalking and/or bullying may also be forms of sexual exploitation.
• Viewing or possessing child or adult pornography at work or on college-owned property.

Title IX Coordinator is the employee designated by the college president to oversee all civil rights complaints, including sexual misconduct, when students are complainants and/or respondents.  The MCC Title IX Coordinator’s responsibilities include, but need not be limited to:

• Contact for government inquiries;
• Point person for all civil rights complaints involving a student as complainant and/or respondent;
• Creator and implementer of appropriate procedures;
• Assurance of 1^st Amendment protection;
• Prevention and remediation of stalking;
• Prevention and remediation of intimate partner and relationship violence;
• Prevention and remediation of bullying and cyberbullying;
• Oversight and coordination of prompt and equitable grievance procedures;
• Coordinator of the interaction of multiple student and employee grievance processes;
• Supervisor of investigations;
• Compliance auditor; and
• Trainer or convener of broad training requirements for MCC employees, boards, investigators and appeals officers.

The Title VI and Title VII/Equal Opportunity Coordinator (EO Coordinator) is the employee designated by the college president to oversee all civil rights complaints, including sexual misconduct, when employees are both the complainant and the respondent.  The EO Coordinator’s responsibilities include, but need not be limited to:

• Contact for government inquiries;
• Point person for all civil rights complaints involving employees as complainant and respondent;
• Creator and implementer of appropriate procedures;
• Assurance of 1^st Amendment protection;
• Prevention and remediation of stalking;
• Prevention and remediation of intimate partner and relationship violence;
• Prevention and remediation of bullying and cyberbullying;
• Oversight and coordination of prompt and equitable grievance procedures;
• Coordinator of the interaction of multiple student and employee grievance processes;
• Supervisor of investigations;
• Compliance auditor; and

Trainer or convener of broad training requirements for MCC employees, boards, investigators and appeals officers.

Complaint Procedure

MCC can only respond to allegations of misconduct if it is aware of the misconduct.  Further, MCC can more effectively investigate the sooner the allegation is brought to its attention.  Any employee, student, authorized volunteer, guest or visitor who believes that he or she has been subjected to sexual misconduct, or believes someone else a part of the MCC community is being subjected to sexual misconduct, shall contact:

• The Title IX Coordinator when the alleged victim and/or respondent is a student.
• The EO Coordinator when the alleged victim and the respondent are a composition of employees, authorized volunteers, guests or visitors.

Anyone can request advice and information about possible ways to proceed and to put the college on notice.

MCC Contacts

Director of Human Resources, Title IX Coordinator
Julie Beydler
(970) 542-3129
julie.beydler@morgancc.edu

Vice President for Student Services, Deputy Title IX Coordinator
Scott Scholes
(970) 542-3111
scott.scholes@morgancc.edu

Other Contacts

Sexual Assalt Response Advocates (S.A.R.A.)
418 Ensign St.  |  Fort Morgan, CO 80701
(970) 867-2121
Toll Free: 1-855-440-SARA (7272)
Fax: (970) 867-4714
http://www.sarainc.org

Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network
http://www.rainn.org