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The executive branch is committed to a work environment in which all individuals are treated with respect and dignity. Harassment of employees based upon their race, creed, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition is a violation of the Iowa Civil Rights Act (Iowa Code chapter 216, as amended). See the Policy Prohibiting Sexual Harassment for Executive Branch Employees.
Other laws also prohibiting discriminatory harassment in one or more of specified covered areas include: Iowa Code section 19B.12, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1978, as amended; and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Under this policy, discriminatory harassment is conduct that insults or shows hostility toward or dislike of an individual or group on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, pregnancy, or pregnancy-related condition.
Examples of discriminatory harassment based on race, creed, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, pregnancy, or pregnancy related condition include, but are not limited to:
- Abusing the dignity of an individual or group through insulting or degrading remarks or conduct, slurs, negative stereotyping, or insulting jokes.
- Threatening, intimidating, or hostile acts.
- Written or graphic material that insults or shows hostility toward or dislike of an individual or group.
- Threats, demands, or suggestions that an employee’s work status is contingent upon submission to harassment.
- Subjecting an employee to demeaning or degrading activities in order to gain co-worker acceptance, e.g., hazing.