Generally, to discriminate against someone means to treat that person differently, or less favorably, for some reason. For purposes of UVU, it means treating someone differently on the basis of their inclusion (or perceived inclusion) in one or more protected classes when:

• that conduct adversely affects a term or condition of employment (e.g., compensation, benefits, duties, position classification, etc.), education, or participation in a UVU program, activity, or service.

OR

• a person’s membership in a protected class serves as the basis or motivating factor in a decision adversely affecting the terms or conditions of employment, education, or participation in a UVU program, activity, or service.

Harassment is any unwelcome verbal, physical, written, electronic, or non-verbal conduct (whether directly, indirectly, or through a third party) based on that person’s inclusion in one or more protected classes that is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive to alter the conditions of employment of an employee or to limit, interfere with, or deny educational benefits or opportunities of a student, from both a subjective and objective viewpoint based on a totality of the circumstances.

According to Policy 165, protected classes include: "Race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age (40 and over), disability, veteran status, pregnancy, childbirth, or pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, or other bases protected by applicable law."

While UVU takes all reports seriously and is committed to conducting complete and thorough fact-finding to reported incidents, courts have indicated that the severe, persistent, or pervasive standard is intended to prevent these laws from becoming a “general civility code” by filtering out complaints focused on the ordinary tribulations of the workplace. These ordinary tribulations may include things such as simple teasing, offhand comments, abusive language, genuine but innocuous differences between genders, or isolated incidents and are generally considered insufficient to constitute actionable discrimination or harassment, unless it is severe, persistent, or pervasive.

While not all unprofessional or uncivil workplace conduct may rise to the level of unlawful discrimination or harassment, for those cases that do not meet this threshold, they may be handled under other appropriate UVU policies such as Policy 371 - Performance Management, Policy 541 - Student Conduct, and Policy 635 - Faculty  Rights and  Professional Responsibilities because UVU strives to provide and maintain a workplace and learning environment free from unprofessional and uncivil conduct and expects everyone to demonstrate respect and fairness to others.

Hostile environment is a form of harassment and becomes unlawful when the conduct is severe, persistent, or pervasive enough to create a work environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile, or abusive.

Retaliation is an action, performed directly by an individual or through others, that is aimed to dissuade a reasonable person from engaging in a protected activity or is done in retribution for engaging in a protected activity.

An action in response to a protected activity is not retaliatory unless:

• it has a materially adverse effect on the working, academic, or other university-related environment of an individual 

       AND

• it would not have occurred in the absence of (but for) the protected activity.

Some examples might include filing a report of protected-class discrimination or sexual harassment in good faith, assisting others in making such a report, or honestly participating as an investigator, witness, decision maker, or otherwise assisting in an investigation or proceeding related to discrimination or harassment.

Should you experience, witness, or receive a report of alleged or actual discrimination, harassment, or retaliation, we encourage you to report the incident(s). Even if you doubt or are unsure if you should report an incident, we encourage you to do so. This will trigger the fact-finding process that follows specific principles and rules to ensure everyone involved is treated fairly and incidents are resolved in the most appropriate manner possible.