Policy Text
CITY OF OAKLAND
ADMINISTRATIVE INSTRUCTION
SUBJECT Equal Employment Opportunity/Anti -
Discrimination/Non -Harassment Policy and
Complaint Procedure NUMBER 71
REFERENCE EFFECTIVE March 9, 2020
SUPERSEDE AI 70, AI 71 dated 1/1/03, AI 115, AI 116, AI 126, AI 71 dated 4/1/04 AI 71 dated
1/1/08
I. PURPOSE
The purpose of this Administrative Instruction is: (1) to outline the City of Oakland 's Policy,
standards, requirements, complaint procedures and disciplinary gui delines regarding inappropriate
and/or unprofessional conduct that could potentially rise to the level of discrimination and/or
harassment; and (2) set out complaint and investigation procedures for all employees and job applicants who believe they have been subjected to inappropriate workplace conduct based on their
protected status.
II. POLICY
A. Unla wful discrimination, harassment or other inappropriate conduct based on
protected status
The City of Oakland (City) is committed to equal employment opportunity and to ensuring that all employees have a work environment free of conduct that could be considered discriminatory or harassing. The City strictly prohibits any form of unlawful employment discrimination and/or harassment or other inappropriate conduct based on protected status. P rotected statuses include:
race, color, ancestry, national origin (including immigration status, cultural or linguistic characteristics), religion, creed (including religious dress and grooming practices), age (over 40), disability (including both mental a nd physical), sex (including pregnancy or medical conditions
related to pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, medical condition (including cancer and genetic characteristics), genetic information
(including family medical history), marital status, military and veteran status, and other
characteristic protected by law. The City will not tolerate any harassing or discriminatory conduct on these bases, nor retaliation for opposing illegal discriminatio n or harassment related to one of
these categories.
Equal Employment Opportunity/Anti -Discrimination/ 71
Non-Harassment Policy and Complaint Procedure
2 Also, the City will not tolerate any inappropriate conduct that affects tangible job benefits, that
unreasonably interferes with any individual’s work performance, or that creates an intimidating, hostile , or offensive working environment. The City does not allow anyone, including any director,
manager, supervisor, co- worker, vendor, elected official, or commissioner, to unlawfully harass or
discriminate against City employees or applicants for employment. Harassment and discrimination
is also prohibited against any person providing services to or working with the City pursuant to a contract. The City will take prompt and effective remedial action within its power upon discovery of such conduct.
1. Discrimination or harassment based on a perception or belief that a person is a member
of protected group or a person’s association with a protected g roup
The City prohibits discrimination and/or harassment based on a perception that a person has any of
the above characteristics, or that the person is associated with a person who has, or is perceived to have, any of the above characteristics. Harassment and/or discrimination based on these characteristics (whether actual, perceived or by association) is prohib ited.
2. Retaliation against a person based on their expressed concern about unlawful discrimination or harassment or for having filed a complaint or participated in a discrimination or harassment investigation
The City prohibits retaliation against anyone who has expre ssed a good faith concern about unlawful
discrimination or harassment or who has filed a complaint or participated in an investigation of any such complaint. The City will not tolerate retaliatory conduct on these bases.
B. Who and What the Policy Covers
Who the Policy Covers
This Policy applies to all full -time employees, part- time employees, temporary employees, and job
applicants . The Policy also applies to any person providing services to or working with the City
pursuant to a contract. For the purpose of this P olicy only, the term “employees” includes unpaid
interns and volunteers.
Where the Policy Applies This Policy applies to all City locations, as well as to all employer -sponsored activities, such as
training, social or other events . This Policy also applies to non- City locations (including locations
where no employer -sponsored activity is taking place) and off -duty conduct if a reasonable
connectio n or impact to the work place can be shown. For example, a City employee sending a racist
email from home to another City employee violates this Policy. Such conduct does not fall outside
of the Policy just because both employees were not on- duty.
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Non-Harassment Policy and Complaint Procedure
3 What the Policy Covers
The Policy covers all terms and conditions of employment, including but not limited to: recruitment,
hiring, promotion, termination, discipline, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, position classification, training, compensation and benefits .
The Policy covers communications sent on personal devices. For example, a City employee s ending
harassing text messages to another City employee violates the Policy even if the messages were sent and received on personal devices.
This Policy prohibits not only unlawful harassment, but also any conduct that is unprofessional, disrespectful or inappropriate based on a protected status/characteristic,
whether or not it rises to the level of legally prohibited harassment and whether or not the
conduct is to a person in a protected category.
For example , making racists statements to a
group of employees who are not members of that race still violates the Policy. It is the City's