243City of Anaheim
Administrative Regulation
CHAPTER 2 - EMPLOYMENT PROCEDURES
Subject: Harassment, Discrimination,
and Retaliation
A.R. 243
Issue Date: Dec. 6,1993
Revised: August 3, 2016
Revised: October 7, 2020
Page (1) of (5)
Purpose:
The purpose of this regulation is to prohibit and prevent harassment, discrimination, and
retaliation in all employment related matters based on a protected class as well as
whistleblowing and /or union activities. Supervisors, co-workers, and third -parties with
whom employees interact are prohibited from engaging in the proscribed conduct in this
Policy.
Applicants, officers, officials, employees and contractors are protected from all forms of
harassment or intimidation because of a protected class; perceived class; or, for
associating with someone who is perceived to have a protected class under federal and/or
state law.
Protected classes include the following: race, age, color, religion, sex (including
pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and related medical conditions), gender, gender
identity, gender expression, transgender, sexual orientation (including heterosexuality,
homosexuality, and bisexuality), marital status, national origin, ancestry, citizenship
status, familial status, source of income, disability (including mental and physical,
HIV/AIDS, and cancer), medical condition, genetic characteristics or information,
military or veteran status, and any other classes as required by law.
The City of Anaheim has a zero tolerance policy for any conduct that violates this Policy
or the spirit thereof. Conduct need not rise to the level of a violation of law to violate this
Policy. An isolated derogatory comment, joke, racial slur, sexual innuendo etc. may
constitute conduct that violates this Policy. In addition, the conduct need not be
unwelcome and a person may violate this Policy even if he/she did not intend to harass,
discriminate, or retaliate. It is not one's intentions but one's actual behavior and the
suitability thereof that is analyzed in a complaint. If the conduct reasonably would be
considered inappropriate for the workplace by the City, it may violate this Policy and
provide grounds for discipline.
City of Anaheim Administrative Regulation 243
Page (2) of (5)
Terms:
Prohibited Behavior
1.) Harassment refers to behavior which is not welcome; objectively offensive;
debilitates morale; and/or, has the purpose or effect of interfering with an employee's
work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.
Harassment may take on many forms, including, but not limited to:
A. Verbal - epithets, derogatory comments, jokes, slurs, rumors, innuendos,
suggestive sounds, stories or remarks about a person's clothing, body or activities
B. Visual - posters, cartoons, gestures, written and electronic materials which depict
or discuss people based on a protected status
C. Physical - pinching, grabbing, patting, leering, staring, touching, blocking
movement, or interfering with a person's normal work
Sexual Harassment is a specific type of gender harassment, which may take on any of the
forms described above and may include a conditional element as follows:
- Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or
condition of an employee's employment, or
Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an employee is used as the basis for
employment decisions affecting the employee.
It is not a defense to a complaint of harassment based on sex that the alleged harassing
conduct was not motivated by sexual desire. In addition, an individual alleging sexual
harassment is not required to sustain a loss of tangible job benefits in order to establish
harassment.
2.) Discrimination is the practice of prejudicial treatment because of one's actual or
perceived protected class or for associating with someone of an actual or perceived
protected classification.
3.) Retaliation is an adverse action taken by an employer or employee against a reporting
party; someone who associates with a reporting party; an individual who participates in
the complaint or investigation process; and/or an employee who has exercised a right or
attempted to exercise a right provided by law.
City of Anaheim Administrative Regulation 243
Page (3) of (5)
Protected Activities
1.) Whistleblowin& is when an employee discloses information to a government or law
enforcement agency where the employee has reasonable cause to believe that the
information discloses:
A violation of a federal or state statute;
A violation or noncompliance with a federal or state rule or regulation; or
With reference to employee safety or health, unsafe working conditions, or work
practices in the employee's employment or place of employment.
2.) Union Activities are the forming, joining/refusing to join, and participation in
employee organizations.
The City of Anaheim and employee organizations shall not interfere with, intimidate,
restrain, coerce, harass, or discriminate against an employee because of the exercise of
his/her rights under the Meyers-Milias Brown Act (MMBA). In addition, the City of
Anaheim shall not impose or threaten to impose reprisals on employees because of their
exercise of rights under the MMBA.
Procedures:
The City will take preventative, corrective, and disciplinary action for any behavior that
violates this Policy or the rights and privileges it is designed to protect. Accordingly, all
parties who believe they are experiencing harassment, discrimination, and/or retaliation
are encouraged to report the behavior, either verbally or in writing, to their immediate
supervisor; any supervisor or manager within or outside of his/her department; any
department head; the City of Anaheim's Equal Employment Opportunity ("EEO")
Administrator; or, Employee Relations Manager. Attached is an EEO Complaint Form
that may be used for reporting such conduct in writing. This document is also available
on the Anaheim Insider, Human Resources Department webpage. It is not necessary to
follow the chain of command when reporting a violation of this Policy.
Any supervisor, manager, or department head who receives a complaint must
immediately report it to the City of Anaheim's EEO Administrator or Employee
Relations Manager. Failure to do so may, in and of itself, be grounds for disciplinary
action up to and including discharge.
City of Anaheim Administrative Regulation 243
Page (4) of (5)
At the onset of any such behavior, although not required, employees are also encouraged
to inform the offender that the conduct is unwelcome and request that it be discontinued
immediately. Sometimes an individual is unaware that his/her conduct is offensive. In
these situations, the offensive behavior may be eliminated by informing the offender.
When the City receives allegations of misconduct under this Policy, confidentiality will
be maintained to the extent possible. Complete confidentiality cannot occur, however,
due to the need to fully investigate and the duty to take effective remedial action.
Therefore, the City shall not disclose the results of the investigation except as necessary
to support a disciplinary action; take remedial or corrective action; defend itself in
adversarial proceedings; or, comply with the law or a court order.
Upon receiving notification of a harassment, discrimination, and/or retaliation complaint,
the EEO Administrator and/or Employee Relations Manager shall:
1.) Determine if the complaint falls within the parameters of this Policy;
2.) Take reasonable steps to protect the complainant/victim(s) from further
harassment, discrimination, and/or retaliation as a result of communicating the
complaint;
3.) Authorize, investigate, and/or supervise a fair, timely and thorough
investigation of any applicable complaint;
4.) Document and track the investigation for reasonable progress;
5.) Review the factual findings of any investigation;
6.) Assess whether or not the conduct is in violation of City Policy;
7.) If appropriate, recommend options for remedial action(s) and resolution(s).
The remedial action(s) will be commensurate with the severity of the offense;
and
8.) Provide a timely response and closure.
Investigators will be impartial, qualified, and have full authority to investigate all aspects
of the complaint including details of the specific incident(s), frequency, date(s) of
occurrence(s), and name(s) of witness(es). This authority subsumes access to records and
the cooperation of any employees involved. During this process, all parties will be
accorded appropriate due process and conclusions will be based on the evidence
collected.
City of Anaheim Administrative Regulation 243
Page (5) of (5)
Employees, including the alleged complainant/victim, are required to fully cooperate in
the investigation by responding truthfully and fully to all questions posed. In addition, an
individual who is interviewed during the course of an investigation is requested to
maintain confidentiality regarding the content of the interview, except as otherwise
directed by a supervisor or the investigator, due to legitimate business reasons such as
preserving the integrity of the investigation. Any individual who violates a direct order
in connection with an investigation will be subject to discipline up to and including
discharge.
No influence will be used to suppress any complaint and no employee will be subject to
retaliation for filing a complaint and/or for cooperating as a witness. Individuals who file
false accusations that are proven to be deliberate, malicious, and/or intentional will be
subject to disciplinary action up to and including discharge.
If a complaint is not sustained, the alleged offending party(ies) will be provided with a
Notice of Determination exonerating him/her/them.
Responsibility:
This Policy applies to all City personnel including supervisory and non -supervisory
employees. Each executive manager is responsible for ensuring that the work
environment is free from all types of unlawful harassment, discrimination, and/or
retaliation. Managers and supervisors are also responsible for taking prompt, appropriate
action within their work units to avoid and minimize such incidents. The words
harassment, discrimination, and retaliation need not be used to trigger the duty to act. It
is the involved behavior as described above that triggers the duty to act.
Attachment: EEO Complaint Form
City of Anaheim
HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT
EEO COMPLAINT FORM
Today's Date:
Reporting Party:
Job Title:
Department:
Immediate Supervisor:
Did you, complainant and/or alleged victim notify a supervisor/manager prior to today`.'
Yes No Unknown
If yes, who was informed:
When: Time:
How:
Date(s) and time(s) on which incident(s) occurred:
Alleged Victim(s) (if not the same as Reporting Party)
Victim: Title:
Work #: Home #:
Victim: Title:
Work #: Home #:
Alleged Offender(s)
Offending Party:
Work #:
Offending Party:
Work #:
201 S. Anaheim Boulevard
Anaheim, California 92805
TEL: 714.765.5111
FAX: 714.765.5211
www.anaheim.net
Title:
Email:
Email:
Home #: Email:
Title:
Home #:
Email:
EEO Complaint Form
Page (2) of (2)
Alleged Witnesses (if identifiable)
Witness: Title:
Work #: Home #: Email:
Witness:
Title:
Work #: Home #: Email:
Witness:
Title:
Work #: Home #: Email:
Incident(s) (Describe in detail the nature of the incident(s) including who, when, where and
what specific actions took place. You may attach additional notes if needed.)
Signature
Date