No person at the College or District may take actions to retaliate against any person who brings, or is thought to have brought, a complaint alleging unlawful discrimination or who has cooperated with or participated in any way with an investigation conducted pursuant to this Policy. Encouraging others to retaliate is a violation of this policy. Any student or employee who does engage in unlawful retaliation shall be subject to all levels of discipline by the College or District, up to and including expulsion (in the case of a student) and termination (in the case of an employee).

This policy and the policy on sexual harassment (AHB) are applicable to all college- or District-sponsored events or programs, including, but not limited to, clubs, athletic events, clinical placements or internships.

The term "Civil Rights Administrator" or "CRA" refers to individual employees of the District who have been designated to counsel employees and studentS, receive complaints, and conduct investigations concerning possible violations of this policy.

The term "Location Executive Officer" or "LEO" refers to Presidents or Vice Chancellors located at each College.

1. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as amended, and its implementing regulations;
2. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act; and
3. The Americans with Disabilities Act.

The District shall provide training to all persons who will receive complaints and conduct investigations, resolution and complaint procedures referenced in this policy.

The District shall provide training to all new employees regarding the protections accorded to them under federal and state civil rights laws and the District's civil rights policies and complaint procedures.

The District shall provide training to supervisory personnel regarding the District's civil rights obligations, the policies and procedures established for handling civil rights complaints and the supervisor's obligation to respond promptly and appropriately to discriminatory conduct or reports of discriminatory conduct in the workplace under their supervisory authority.

1. Designate at least one CRA to receive and investigate any complaints made under this section;

2. Inform all students and employees of the names, telephone number and campus address of CRAs;

3. Ensure that all complaints alleging unlawful discrimination are fully investigated within thirty days of the submission of a written complaint and a decision is made regarding any discipline to be imposed within sixty days; and

4. Review the findings of any investigation conducted under this section and impose any appropriate discipline.

In the case of the District Office, the Vice Chancellor for District Services and CFO shall be responsible to appoint a Civil Rights Administrator to serve as the District Office CRA. When the District Office CRA is responsible to conduct an investigation, he or she shall submit his or her investigative findings to the appropriate Vice Chancellor.

If the CRA finds, with the approval of the LEO, that the appointment of an external civil rights investigator is necessary to provide a timely and objective investigation, resolve disputed or complex facts, collect evidence or expedite the process, the Vice Chancellor for Human Resources and General Counsel may appoint such investigator.

The purpose of the investigatory meeting is to collect information regarding the complaint. Rules of evidence shall not apply at any investigatory meetings and neither the complainant nor the person accused of violating this policy may participate in the questioning of each other or any persons interviewed in the course of this investigation.

The complainant and the person accused of violating this policy may provide to the investigator names of witnesses or persons with knowledge relevant to the investigation and shall provide copies of any written documents to the CRA or external civil rights investigator. The CRA may obtain documents not provided or referenced by either party and may interview additional persons at the CRA's discretion.

The CRA or external investigator shall inform the complainant and any person accused of violating this policy that they are required to respect the confidentiality of the investigative process and are prohibited from discussing the complaint during the investigation and retaliating against the complainant or persons assisting in or cooperating with the investigation.

A person who is found to have violated this Policy or Policy AHB and receives discipline beyond a letter of reprimand may appeal to the Chancellor.

The decision of the LEO shall be considered to have been accepted by the complainant and the person disciplined for violating this Policy unless he or she files an appeal with the Chancellor within 14 days of the receipt of the LEO's written communication regarding the investigation. The Chancellor shall review the appeal within 20 days from its submission.

In considering an appeal, the Chancellor may limit his or her review to the documents collected by the CRA or external civil rights investigator during the investigation, may request and review additional documentation or may refer the matter to an outside civil rights investigator to collect additional evidence or to make independent factual findings. The purpose of this review is to ensure that the conclusions from the initial investigation were not arbitrary, capricious or discriminatory; did not violate the fundamental rights of the complainant or the person accused of violating this policy or Policy AHB, and did not violate fundamental fairness.

The records of the investigation, including the notes, documents and other information collected by the CRA during the course of the investigation, shall be maintained by the CRA and shall not become part of either the District's official personnel files.

Behavior that might be found to be harassment includes the following conduct that targets an individual on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, gender, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, or disability:

1. Assault and battery, sexual assault, and rape.

2. Overt threats, serious intimidation, stalking behavior, repeated refusal to take no for an answer, obscene messages on voice mail or computer, taking obvious advantage of someone who is intoxicated or on drugs, serious threats of retaliation and actual retaliation, and sexual bribes and blackmail.

3. Repeated, unwanted touching or kissing, especially if the behavior has been labeled unwelcome.

4. Degrading, public tirades from a coworker or supervisor;

5. Deliberate, repeated humiliation, including deliberate humiliation of a co-worker who is not a native English speaker, for the mispronunciation of words or phrases.

6. Repeated requests for a date or discussions of sexually related topics by a coworker, a supervisor or a student/member of the public with whom the employee must interact.

7. Deliberate desecration of religious articles or places, repeated unwanted proselytizing and repeated interference with the reasonable pursuit of religious life.

8. Repeated insults about loss of personal and professional competence addressed to an older person.

Informal Complaint: The purpose of the informal complaint resolution process is to provide an employee with an opportunity to discuss specifics of the complaint and to receive guidance and information on administrative procedures.Informal complaints shall be processed in accordance with the following procedures:

1. Complaints shall be presented orally to a third party (a supervisor, an administrative officer, a human resources officer, supervisor, or department head) or to a civil rights administrator (CRA) about the situation that caused the complaint. An informal complaint received by an official other than the CRA will be reviewed with the CRA.

2. As a general rule, no formal administrative action will be taken against an employee on the basis of an anonymous complaint. The CRA may counsel the employee or provide training on the civil rights matter that is the basis of the complaint.

3. Informal complaint resolution may be achieved by either of the following steps:
   1. action taken by the complainant to address the matter directly with the person who is the object of the complaint; or,
   2. action taken by the CRA to negotiate a resolution.

   This type of intervention may result in such solutions as separating the complainant and the person whose conduct was considered discriminatory, reassignments of work, or an agreement by the offender to stay away from the complainant. However, there may be no formal disciplinary action taken against the offender without a fair process, as outlined under the description of Formal Investigation.

4. The CRA must maintain a file with notes or a memorandum to file, indicating the informal complaint and the action taken. The informal decision rendered by the CRA shall be deemed accepted by the employee unless the employee files a formal complaint in accordance with the requirements below.

Formal Complaint: If the employee is not satisfied with the action taken at the informal level, the employee may file a formal complaint in accordance with the following procedures:

1. Within sixty (60) days of when the employee knew or should have known of the situation that caused the complaint, the employee shall file a complaint in writing with the college Civil Rights Administrator (CRA). The written statement shall contain:
   1. A detailed statement of the complaint and the evidence in its support, as applicable;
   2. The specific District policy or procedure involved in the complaint, if any;
   3. The specific remedy sought, if any; and
   4. The signature of the employee.

2. The CRA may determine to appoint an external investigator.
   1. The appointment of an external investigator is generally advisable when the workload of the CRA will preclude a timely and thorough consideration of the investigatory record or if the investigation reveals facts or conflicts in the evidence that are better determined with the assistance of an experienced investigator.

   2. Neither the complainant nor the person(s) accused of civil rights violations has the right to require the CRA to appoint an external investigator.

   3. Investigations conducted by external investigators:
      1. The CRA shall appoint an officer from the District's list of external civil rights investigators to conduct an investigation. In the case of a sexual harassment complaint, a formal interview must be conducted by an external, sexual harassment investigator.

      2. Upon appointment of an external investigator, the CRA shall promptly notify the complainant and the person(s) accused of civil rights violations of the date and time of his or her interview and provide to each a copy of the complaint.

      3. The complainant and the person(s) accused of civil rights violations may have representatives present at the interview, but the representatives will not be permitted to make arguments, present evidence, or participate in the questioning of the persons involved. The interviews shall be closed to all persons except the person being interviewed and the person's representative. Formal rules of evidence shall not apply during the interview. Only the external investigator shall be permitted to ask questions of the persons involved.

      4. Within ten (10) calendar days of the completion of the interviews, the external investigator shall submit a written report of the factual findings to the CRA.

3. If the CRA concludes that the employee's rights have been violated, the CRA shall send a written report of his or her findings to the College President. The President will determine the appropriate penalty for the employee or employee whose conduct was the subject of the complaint.

4. The President will determine the appropriate penalty for the employee or employee whose conduct was the subject of the complaint. The President will communicate with the employee complainant and the person whose conduct was the subject of the complaint.

1. If the employee believes the process used to investigate his or her complaint did not comply with District policy or procedure, the employee shall file a notice of appeal to the Chancellor within fourteen (14) days of the receipt of the president's communication about his or her decision. An employee may not appeal to seek a stiffer penalty or to challenge the factual findings.

2. The Chancellor may determine that a hearing would be appropriate or may determine to proceed on the investigative record. It a hearing will be conducted, the Chancellor will notify the of the date and time of a hearing within twenty-one (21) days of the receipt of the notice of appeal. Failure of the employee to attend the hearing shall be deemed as an acceptance by the employee of the written decision rendered by the President.

3. The Chancellor shall render a decision within fourteen (14) days after the hearing or the receipt of the notice of appeal. The decision rendered by the Chancellor shall be final.

Glenn Powell
Director, Employment & HR Services
832/813-6726

Marian Ervin
Director, Projects & Applications
832/813-6579

Lone Star College-Kingwood (including CATE and EMCID Centers):

Carolyn Wade
Director, Financial Aid
281/312-1412

Lone Star College–Montgomery (including the Conroe Training and Technology Center):

Janice Peyton
Director, Library
936/273-7392

Tani Traver
Counselor, Academic/Retention
936/273-7280

Lone Star College-North Harris (including Carver Center and Lone Star College-Greenspoint Center):

Andre Perez
Director, College Relations
281/618-5589

Savero Balason
Manager, Admissions
281/618-5746

Vicki Stanfield
Assistant Dean
281/618-5434

Lone Star College–Tomball (including Lone Star College–Willow Chase Center):

Katherine C. Miller
Vice President, Community and Economic Development
281/351-3313

Larry Rideaux
Dean, Student Development
281/351-3334

Lone Star College–CyFair (including Lone Star College–Fairbanks Center)

Doris C. Lee
Assistant Dean, Student Services (Lone Star College–Fairbanks Center)
832/782-5015

Diana Pino
Dean, Student Services (Lone Star College–CyFair)
281/290-3982