EEO Policies

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EEO is the Law

No applicant or employee shall be deprived of employment opportunties because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability, natural hair, hairstyle, or genetic information.

Policy Statement on Sexual Harassment

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued guidelines affirming its position that sex-related harassment in the work place is sex discrimination and, as such, is prohibited by Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

It has long been the City of Fayetteville's policy that all employees have a right to work in an environment free from any type of discrimination, including freedom from sexual harassment.

The City of Fayetteville will abide by the guidelines, which have been established by the EEOC with reference to sexual harassment. Sexual harassment will be grounds for disciplinary action as provided in the City’s Employee Relations Policy/Procedure Manual. Employees who feel they have been a victim of sexual harassment, or feel they have witnessed actual or potential sexual harassment, may bring this to their chain of command. In the event the immediate supervisor is the individual whom the employee is accusing of sexual harassment, the employee may appeal such actions directly to the next level supervisor or inform the Human Resource Development Director and/or the City Manager’s Office.

Sexual harassment is defined as deliberate or repeated unsolicited verbal comments, gestures, or physical contact of a sexual nature, which are unwelcome.

Sexual harassment lowers morale and is damaging to work environment. Therefore, the City of Fayetteville will treat sexual harassment like any other form of employee misconduct and it will not be tolerated.

Specifically, it is illegal and against the policies of the City of Fayetteville for any employee, male or female, to sexually harass another employee.

EEOC Guidelines On Discrimination Because Of Sex (Amended)

Harassment on the basis of sex is a violation of Section 703 of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended. Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when:
- Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual's employment.
- Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual.
- Such conduct has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidation, hostile, or offensive working environment.
In determining whether alleged conduct constitutes sexual harassment, the commission will look at the record as a whole and the totality of the circumstances, such as the nature of the sexual advances and the context in which the alleged incidents occurred.
Applying general Title VII principles, the employer is responsible for its acts and the acts of its agents and its supervisory employees with respect to sexual harassment whether the specific acts were authorized or even forbidden by the employer and regardless of whether the employer knew or should have known of their occurrence.
With respect to persons other than supervisory personnel as mentioned in Section 3, an employer is responsible for acts of sexual harassment in the work place where there employer, or its agents or supervisory employees, know or should have known of the conduct. An employer may rebut apparent liability for such acts by showing that it took immediate and appropriate corrective action.
Prevention is the best tool for the elimination of sexual harassment. An employer should should take all steps necessary to prevent sexual harassment from occurring, such as affirmatively raising the subject, expressing strong disapproval, developing appropriate sanctions, informing employees of their right to raise, and how to raise the issue of harassment under Title VII, and developing methods to sensitize all concerned.

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