Inside Redlands is posted monthly by the Office of Public Relations.
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To: Campus Community
From: EEO Office
Date: November 5, 2001
Subject: Sexual Harassment: Third Party Suffering

A third party may file sexual harassment charges when they witness an act of sexual harassment perpetrated on another and when they can demonstrate that the act constituting sexual harassment created a hostile or intimidating work environment. However, a federal appeals court has ruled that employees cannot move forward in a lawsuit if they experience second-hand sexual harassment.

In Leibovitz v. New York City Transit Authority, Ms. Diane Leibovitz served as the newly appointed Deputy Superintendent of repairs in 1993. She became aware of rumors that two women in another department were being sexually harassed by their male supervisor. The rumors were confirmed when the two female employees filed a complaint of sexual harassment with the transit authority.

The transit authority conducted an investigation into the complaint. However, Ms. Leibovitz determined that the investigation was "insufficiently diligent." Ms. Leibovitz became clinically depressed. She blamed her condition on frustration suffered at the hands of the transit authority in connection with her efforts on behalf of the two complainants. She sued the transit authority claiming that she was a victim of sexual harassment.

A federal court jury heard the case. Although Ms. Leibovitz had not actually witnessed any instance of sexual harassment, the jury awarded her $60,000.00 in damages and almost $130,000.00 in legal fees. The jury found that she had been subjected to a hostile work environment from sexually explicit behavior and suffered as a result.

On appeal, the federal appeals court determined that Ms. Leibovitz had failed to prove that the sexually harassing behavior had created a hostile working condition for her. The court argued that since the two alleged victims of sexual harassment were out of Ms. Leibovitz's "sight and regular orbit" the misconduct in question "might as well have been going on in a nearby office of another firm, or been the subject of an infuriating newspaper article, or been a false rumor of a kind that would be upsetting if true." Therefore, Ms. Leibovitz was denied the almost $190,000.00 in damages awarded to her by the federal court jury.

The courts have stated that third party sexual harassment is a serious and actionable transgression of law, but they have been consistent in requiring that the third party actually be a witness of the event.

The two female employees prevailed in their cases against the supervisor, but the transit authority was released of liability. The supervisor is searching for another job and damages awarded to the victims will limit his disposable income for some time.


To: University Community
From: EEO Office
Date: December 5, 2001
Subject: Religious/National Origin Harassment: Target Middle Eastern Descent or Muslim Sects

According to the EEOC, employers and institutions of higher learning have witnessed an increase in unlawful harassment and discrimination since the September 11 tragedy. We should each take pride that the University of Redlands has not had an increase in these types of complaints.

As a result of the nation's overall experience, EEOC Chair Cari M. Dominguez has asked all employers to notify employees that the EEOC will "aggressively pursue instances of harassment or intimidation against Arab-American and Muslim employees." In compliance with Ms. Dominguez request, this document will focus on Muslim and Arab-American harassment, but all other ethnic and religious groups have these same types of protections under law.

Each employee should be aware that unlawful harassment EEOC complaints involving religion or national origin can be generated because of the following:

  • Affiliation
    Harassing or otherwise discriminating against an employee because s/he is affiliated with a particular religious or ethnic group. For example, creating a hostile work environment for an employee because s/he is Arab or paying an employee less because s/he is Muslim would be an affiliation violation.

    Physical, linguistic, or cultural traits and clothing Behaving in an intimidating manner towards an employee because of physical, linguistic, or cultural traits, such as accent or dress, closely associated with a national origin or religious group. For example, behaving in an intimidating manner towards women wearing a hijab (a body covering and/or headscarf worn by some Muslim sects), or not hiring a man with a dark complexion and accent believed to be Arab would violate this provision in the law.

  • Perception
    Intimidating behavior perpetrated on an employee because of the perception or belief that a person is a member of a particular racial, national origin, or religious group, whether or not that perception is correct. For instance, failing to hire a Latina applicant because the employer thought she was Arab American, or harassing a Sikh man wearing a turban because the harasser thought he was Muslim.

  • Association
    Intimidating behavior perpetrated on an employee because of an employee's association with a person or organization of a particular religion or ethnicity. For example, harassing an employee whose husband is from Afghanistan, or refusing to promote an employee because s/he attends a mosque.

These areas of focus are an increasing concern for the EEOC. The University has responded with professionalism and respect towards its employees and students. We should continue to set an example for our corporate colleagues. Should an employee experience this type of harassment, please contact the EEOC office immediately.


To: Campus Community
From: Sandi Taylor, Mgr. Purchasing & Mail Services
Date: December 14, 2001
Subject: Enhanced Office Supply Procurement

A survey was distributed throughout campus to determine what was important to you in the area of ordering and receipt of your consumable office supplies. This survey was the beginning of our efforts to bring to campus an enhancement to our procurement program that would be current with today's technology, realize cost savings for the University and address the issues identified in the survey.

The implementation date for our new "partnership" between the University of Redlands and Office Depot, our vendor of choice is January 2, 2002. Prior to this, Office Depot will come to campus on Monday, December 17, 2001 and provide training. The person(s) within each department who currently have the responsibility for placing office supply orders were contacted and registered to attend one of the four training/information sessions. Make-up sessions will be scheduled in January 2002 for those not able to attend the initial training. Training/information notebooks and product catalogs will be distributed during the training.

This "partnership" will provide the enhancements we were looking for plus many others. Direct on-line ordering will become a reality for all of campus along with next day delivery to your department, and access to pricing at the time of order placement. Eighteen months of history specific to your department will be available on-line allowing you to monitor your spending and verify charges to your budget. Significant cost savings are built into the program. Items on the Office Depot "100 Core Item List" and the University's "Customized 100 Item List" represent an average range of discount between 30% and 70% off list price. These items are designated in the online catalog as "Best Value." The University's customized list will be comprised of the most commonly ordered items by the campus community and other items of our choice. Our usage by volume over the last 12 months will be used to select these items.

The second tier of discount covers the 13,000 items located in Office Depot's Business Services Division catalog that are also carried at their retail stores. The discount on these items will be a minimum of 8% off retail price. The University's account with Office Depot will be set up and managed through the department of Office Services. Ms. Shari Audelo, the Coordinator of Office Products/Purchase Orders has been assigned as the person who will be monitoring the daily operations of the account. This will provide the campus community with an on-campus, centralized point of contact to assist you with any issues that might arise in the acquisition of your supplies.

In order to take advantage of the benefits of our partnership with Office Depot, we are requesting that all persons ordering office supplies use this service as your first choice. Please let us know if there is an item that is not available and we will discuss with Office Depot as to why the product is not available. Don't hesitate to call me at ext. 4003 should you have any questions or need further information. Shari is also available to address those needs and may be reached at ext. 5314.

We solicit and value your continued support and input as we implement and work this new program together for the betterment of the University.




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