Disciplinary Action

Salimpour Online and all Suhaila Institute programs view harassment and retaliation to be among the most serious breaches of reasonable behavior. Consequently, appropriate disciplinary or corrective action, ranging from a warning to termination or expulsion, can be expected.

Policy Statement

The most productive and satisfying creative work environment is one in which work is accomplished in a spirit of mutual trust and respect. Harassment is a form of discrimination that is offensive, impairs morale, undermines the integrity of relationships and causes serious harm to the productivity, efficiency and stability of our organization.

All Instructors, staff, and students have a right to work in an environment free from discrimination and harassing conduct, including sexual harassment. Harassment on the basis of race, color, creed, ancestry, national origin, age, disability, sex, arrest or conviction record, marital status, sexual orientation, membership in the military reserve or use or non-use of lawful products away from work is expressly prohibited under this policy. Harassment on any of these bases is also illegal in many places throughout the world.

Definitions

In general, harassment means persistent and unwelcome conduct or actions on any of the bases in bold above, including a threat of physical harm. Sexual harassment is one type of harassment and includes unwelcome sexual advances, unwelcome physical contact of a sexual nature or unwelcome verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.

Unwelcome verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature includes, but is not limited to:

The repeated making of unsolicited, inappropriate gestures or comments;

The display of offensive sexually graphic materials not necessary for our work;

Harassment on any basis (race, sex, age, disability, etc.) exists whenever:

• Submission to harassing conduct is made, either explicitly or implicitly, a term or condition of an individual’s employment, enrollment or successful completion of any course;
• The conduct interferes with an employee’s or student’s participation in our activities or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.

Recognizing Harassment

Harassment may be subtle, manipulative and is not always evident. It does not refer to occasional compliments of a socially acceptable nature. It refers to behavior that is not welcome and is personally offensive. All forms of gender harassment are covered. Men can be sexually harassed; men can harass men; Women can harass other women. Offenders can be managers, supervisors, Instructors, and non-employees such as students, presenters or clients.

Some examples

Verbal:

Jokes, insults and innuendos (based on race, sex, age, disability, etc.), degrading sexual remarks, referring to someone as a stud, hunk or babe; or other offensive or threatening language including comments on a person’s body or sex life.

Non-Verbal:

Gestures, staring, stalking, touching, hugging, patting, blocking a person’s movement, standing too close, brushing against a person’s body, or display of sexually suggestive or degrading pictures, racist or other derogatory cartoons or drawings.

Grievance Procedure

Any staff member, student, instructor, or volunteer who believes they are being harassed, or who becomes aware of harassment, should promptly notify our staff.

Upon notification of a harassment complaint, a confidential and impartial investigation will be promptly commenced. The parties of the complaint will be notified of the findings and their options, if any. License and enrollment rights are subject to termination for any violation of this Policy, and any paid license fees or tuition shall be forfeit.

Non-retaliation policy also expressly prohibits retaliation of any kind against anyone bringing a complaint or assisting in the investigation of a complaint. Such claimant may not be adversely affected in any manner related to their participation in the investigation.