WORKPLACE HARASSMENT POLICY
The City prohibits all forms of harassment of or by its employees, staff members and third parties. Accordingly, all members of the COY are asked to always conduct themselves in a professional manner and to not engage in conduct which might be construed as offensive by others. Prohibited conduct includes any form of physical or verbal abuse; harassment on account of race, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity and sexual orientation), age, religion, disability, national origin, or any other protected status.
Sexual harassment includes unwelcome verbal or physical conduct towards another that is sexually offensive, vulgar, derogatory, or suggestive to an unwilling party. It can include vulgar jokes, suggestive comments, inappropriate touching, and other similar behavior which is unwelcomed by the other person(s). To avoid potential problems or misunderstandings, COY employees are asked to always conduct themselves in a professional manner, and those who find the conduct of others offensive should immediately make it clear to the offending person that they do find the conduct offensive. Sexual harassment includes any sexually offensive conduct based on sex, regardless of whether such conduct is engaged in by a male towards a female, female towards a male or between persons of the same gender. No COY member has the authority to condition or base any employment action on another employee’s participation in sexual conduct or behavior.
Any COY employee who feels that he/she has been subjected to harassment in violation of this policy shall immediately and confidentially report it to Human Resources and the Mayor.
Incidents of alleged harassment will be promptly investigated in a confidential manner and appropriate action will be taken. If management is not informed of conduct which violates this policy, it cannot deal with such conduct.
If the COY determines that an employee engaged in harassing conduct or any inappropriate conduct, appropriate action will be taken against the offending employee, up to and including termination of employment. If the harassment is engaged in by a person other than an employee, management will attempt to take appropriate action to remedy the problem.
The COY prohibits any form of retaliation against any employee for making a bona fide complaint under this policy or for assisting in a complaint investigation.
The COY requires all public employees and elected officials shall take a one (1) hour course on sexual harassment every year as required by Title R.S. 42:341-344 of the Louisiana Legislature
