Anti-Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation Policy

Thousand Waves (“the Dojo”) strictly enforces its policy against all forms of prohibited harassment, discrimination, and retaliation involving employees. The rules and procedures set forth below apply to all personnel working at the Dojo. This policy prohibits harassment, discrimination, and retaliation against employees and applicants for employment. Prohibited harassment, discrimination, or retaliation can take place at or away from the workplace, at social events, or while traveling for the Dojo. This policy prohibiting harassment, discrimination, and retaliation applies not only to our work at the Dojo, but also to conduct away from the Dojo and at Dojo events. Prohibited harassment, discrimination, or retaliation can also occur via electronic communication, such as via e-mail, voicemail, blogs, or social media postings. This policy prohibiting harassment, discrimination, and retaliation also applies to such electronic communications. The Dojo cannot stress enough that it will not tolerate any form of prohibited harassment or discrimination, nor will it tolerate retaliation against individuals who, in good faith, complain of or oppose prohibited harassment or discrimination or who participate in a harassment or discrimination investigation.

Prohibited Harassment
The Dojo seeks to provide employees with a work environment free of prohibited harassment, which has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment, unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or otherwise adversely affecting an individual’s employment opportunities. Such harassing treatment is unacceptable conduct and is contrary to Dojo policy and the basic commitment to treat one another fairly with dignity and respect.

Prohibited harassment is verbal or physical conduct that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual because of his/her race, color, creed, religion, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, physical or mental disability or medical condition, genetic information, sexual orientation, sex, including same sex harassment, gender identity and/or expression, pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding or related medical conditions, arrest record, matriculation, personal appearance, political affiliation, marital, parental, veteran, military, or order of protection status, or any other protected status, or that of his/her relatives, friends, or associates, and that has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or otherwise adversely affecting an individual’s employment opportunities. Harassing conduct includes, but is not limited to, epithets, slurs, jokes, negative stereotyping, threatening, intimidating or hostile acts and written or graphic material placed on walls, bulletin boards or elsewhere on the employer’s premises or circulated in the workplace that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual or group because of race, color, religion, national origin, citizenship status, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, sexual orientation, sex, including same sex harassment, gender identity and/or expression, pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, marital, parental, veteran or any other protected status. Prohibited harassment can come from supervisors, fellow employees, or non-employees such as vendors, clients, or partners.

Sexual harassment, one form of prohibited harassment, includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when submission to such conduct is explicitly or implicitly made a term or condition of an individual’s employment, submission to or rejection of such conduct is the basis for an employment decision affecting an individual, or such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment. Examples of sexual harassment include, but are not limited to, sexual innuendo, suggestive comments, insults, threats, jokes about gender, specific traits or sexual propositions, suggestive or insulting noises, leering, whistling or obscene gestures, and touching, pinching, brushing the body, coercing sexual intercourse or assault. Men as well as women can be victims of sexual harassment, and the harasser and the victim can be of the same sex.

Prohibited harassment (including sexual harassment) is considered a form of employee misconduct; sanctions will be enforced against individuals engaging in prohibited harassment, and against supervisory and managerial personnel who knowingly allow such behavior to continue.

EEO/Prohibited Discrimination
It is the policy of the Dojo that no employee, or applicant for employment, shall be discriminated against on the basis of his/her race, color, creed, religion, national origin, citizenship status, age, non-disqualifying physical or mental disability, genetic information, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity and/or expression, pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, marital, parental, veteran or any other protected status or that of his/her relatives, friends, or associates, in all employment decisions including recruitment, hiring, compensation, training and apprenticeship, promotion, upgrading, demotion, downgrading, transfer, lay-off and termination, and all terms and conditions of employment except as provided by law. In accordance with this policy and practice, the Dojo complies with all applicable anti-discrimination laws.

Complaint Procedure/Prohibited Retaliation
Retaliation against individuals based on complaints of harassment or based on testimony or assistance in any proceeding under the law is unlawful. The Dojo will not tolerate retaliation against anyone who in good faith complains of or opposes harassment or discrimination, files a complaint or charge, or testifies, assists or participates in any investigation, proceeding, or hearing. This retaliation provision is not intended to protect persons making intentionally false charges of harassment.

Any employee who believes that he, she or they has/have been the subject of sexual or other prohibited harassment, discrimination, or retaliation should report the conduct immediately to the Executive Director of Thousand Waves or the Board of Directors.

Investigations/Remedial Action
The Dojo will promptly and thoroughly investigate all complaints in a manner that ensures due process for all parties, and will take any appropriate remedial action to stop prohibited harassment, discrimination, or retaliation. Confidentiality will be maintained to the extent consistent with the Dojo’s obligations to investigate and take appropriate corrective action.

If it is determined after an investigation that an employee has engaged in prohibited harassment, discrimination or retaliation in violation of this policy, he/she/they will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action, up to and including discharge. All employees are expected to act in a responsible and professional manner and to establish a positive working environment, free of discrimination, harassment and retaliation.