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ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE GENERAL ORDER Effective Date: February 22, 2023 Amends - GO 4.6.1 ( January 3, 2014 ) Number: 4.6.1 Distribution: All Personnel Review Month: May Reviewing Authority: HRD / Employee Labor Relations Subject: Anti-Discrimination And Anti-Harassment This order consists of the following: 1. Purpose 2. Policy 3. Definitions 4. Procedures 1. Purpose To provide guidelines to identify discriminatory or harassing behavior, and provide a procedure to address allegations of violations of this order . 2. Policy Agency employees should enjoy a work environment which is not intimidating, hostile, discriminatory, biased, or offensive. The Orange County Sheriff's Office will not tolerate discrimination or harassment against any person because of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity , national origin, age, disability, or as otherwise provided by law . Any situation where an agency employee’s submission to harassment is made a term or condition of employment, is used as a basis for employment decisions or where harassment has the effect of creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment, will not be permitted under any circumstances. Agency employees are expe cted to conduct themselves in a professional manner in all work environments and in all their dealings with other employees and those individuals outside the Sheriff’s Office with whom they have contact in the course of official business. These prohibitions may apply to off -duty as well as on -duty behavior. Violations of this policy may result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination. The agency strongly encourages employees who are the recipient of, or witness to, inappropriate language and behavior (e.g., sexual comments, racial slurs) to report it as soon as reasonably possible. 3. Definitions A. Discrimination – disparate treatment of a person on the basis of race, color, religion , gender, sexual orientation, gender identity , national origin, age, disability, or as otherwise prohibited by law. Discrimination can take many forms. B. Harassment – (1) persistent and unwelc ome conduct or actions targeting a person’s Protected Class; (2) regardless of Protected Class, any other conduct that is severe and pervasive enough to create a work environment a reasonable person would consider hostile, offensive, or intimidating. 4.6.1, Page 2 of 4 C. Protected Class – a person’s gender, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, age, disability, sex, marital status, or sexual orientation. D. Retaliatory Conduct – conduct or action designed to serve as retribution against an agency employee, who in good faith, has reported or otherwise provided information regarding discrimination or harassment against another agency employee. In the context of this policy, this conduct includes any deliberate, purposeful actions or failures to act directed agai nst employees that cause or could reasonably be expected to cause physical harm, property damage, significant emotional stress, or other serious negative effect on another employee; designed to ridicule or embarrass; or could seriously impair the efficienc y, safety, or effectiveness of that employee, this agency, or both. Such conduct may take many forms, including, but not limited to, bullying; persistent offensive comments, threats, or intimidation; false accusations; isolation; ostracism; posting of secu re or personal information on the Internet; or acts that malign or disparage an individual’s reputation. E. Sexual Harassment – a form of gender discrimination consisting of unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physi cal conduct of a sexual nature when: 1. Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of the person’s employment; or 2. Submission to or rejection of such conduct by a person is used as the basis for employment decisions; or 3. Such conduct is objectively and personally offensive and has the effect of unreasonably interfering with a person’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment. 4. An example of “quid pro quo” sexual harassment is when a supervisor tell s an employee they shall receive special consideration (e.g., promotion, raise) in exchange for sexual favors. Another example is when a supervisor threatens to fire or demote an employee unless they provide sexual favors. “Quid pro quo” means “something for something.” 5. In “hostile working environment” sexual harassment, there may be no demand for sexual favors, but other actions of a sexual nature unreasonably interfere with a person’s work performance or create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment. Examples of conduct that may create a hostile working environment include, but are not limited to, lewd or sexually suggestive comments; off -color language or jokes of a sexual nature; slurs and other verbal, graphic, or physical conduct relating to a person’s gender or sexual practices; or any display of sexually explicit pictures, greeting cards, calendars, articles, books, magazines, photos, or cartoons. Occasional compliments of a s ocially acceptable nature do not create a hostile working environment. 4.6.1, Page 3 of 4 6. A single incident of non -consensual physical contact may constitute a hostile working environment, e.g., kissing, groping. Other incidents that do not