Anti-Harassment Policy
(based on Anti-Harassment Policy written by Harriet McAtee, Director of Nourish Yoga Training)
1. Harassment Against Members of Protected Class
The owner of Barbara Sunchaser Yoga is a member of the Yoga Teachers Union and will not tolerate harassment and abuse of any kind.
We do not permit managers, employees, teachers, independent contractors, students, or others in the workplace to harass any other person because of age, gender (including pregnancy), race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status, genetic information, or any other basis proscribed by law.
Harassment is unwelcome verbal or non-verbal conduct, based upon a person’s protected characteristic, that (i) denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward the person because of the characteristic and which affects their employment opportunities or benefits; (ii) has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with their work performance; (iii) enduring the offensive conduct becomes a condition of continued employment; or (iv) has the purpose or effect of creating a work environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile, or abusive.
Harassment includes epithets, slurs, name calling, negative stereotyping, insults, intimidation, ridicule, threatening, intimidating or hostile acts, denigrating jokes, and display in the workplace of written or graphic material that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual or group based on their protected characteristic.
Petty slights, annoyances, and isolated minor incidents may not rise to the level of harassment.
2. Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
We do not tolerate sexual harassment at Barbara Sunchaser Yoga. Sexual harassment refers to any unwelcome sexual attention, sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal, visual, or physical conduct of a sexual nature 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 unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance; or
Such conduct has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment
Examples of sexual harassment include unwanted and unnecessary physical contact; offensive remarks (including unwelcome comments about appearance); obscene jokes or other inappropriate use of sexually offensive language; the display in the studio of sexually suggestive objects or pictures; and unwelcome sexual advances by teachers, students, customers, clients, or other visitors to a studio. Non-physical gesture, behavior, unnecessary physical contact, verbal suggestion, or innuendo may constitute sexual harassment.
3. Sexual Misconduct
We prohibit sexual misconduct at Barbara Sunchaser Yoga. Sexual misconduct is any unsolicited and unwelcome sexual advance including requests for sexual favors, sexual touching, and verbal, visual, or physical conduct that creates a sexually hostile environment in a yoga class or studio.
Sexual misconduct also arises if a teacher engages in conduct that has the purpose or result of requiring a student to submit to such conduct to obtain any benefit or privilege relating to the study or teaching of yoga. While it is not possible to list all the circumstances that may constitute sexual misconduct, the following are examples of misconduct:
Verbal Harassment:
Unwanted sexual teasing, stories, jokes, remarks, or questions
Sexual comments, stories or innuendo
Turning work discussions to sexual topics
Asking about sexual fantasies, preferences, or history
Asking personal questions about social or sexual life
Sexual comments about a person’s clothing, anatomy, or looks
Telling lies or spreading rumors about a person’s personal sex life
Referring to an individual as a doll, babe, sweetheart, honey, or similar term
Repeatedly asking a person out on dates who is not interested
Unwanted letters, telephone calls, or sending materials of a sexual nature
Stalking on social media
Unwanted pressure for sexual favors
Non-Verbal Harassment:
Blocking a person’s path or following a person
Giving unwelcome personal gifts
Displaying sexually suggestive materials
Making sexual gestures with hands or through body movements
Unwanted sexual looks or gestures
Physical Harassment:
Hugging, kissing, patting, or stroking
Touching or rubbing oneself sexually around another person
Unwanted deliberate touching, leaning over, cornering, or pinching
Giving an unwanted massage
Sexually oriented asana adjustments or touch
Promising enlightenment or special teachings or status in exchange for sexual favors
Actual or attempted rape or sexual assault
Teachers must maintain professional relationships with their students. This includes appropriate social and sexual boundaries. Teachers must create and maintain a safe environment that engenders trust and mutual respect with the students.
4. Romantic Relationships
Teachers shall avoid getting into personal or sexual relationships with students that may result in the impairment of their professional judgment or that may compromise the integrity of their teaching.
Yoga teachers are committed to maintaining impeccable standards of professional integrity and to promoting the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of their students. Teachers recognise the inherent imbalance of power in the teacher-student relationship and recognise that romantic relationships with students have the potential of exploiting the trust of students, creating dependent relationships, and compromising the integrity of the teacher.
Teachers should avoid acting on, responding to, or allowing sexual contact or romantic attraction with a student even if the student initiates the relationship. Teachers should ensure that their relationships with students are always professional, and not open to misunderstanding or misinterpretation.
If a teacher has a pre-existing relationship with a student that did not arise from the teacher-student relationship, it should be maintained to high ethical standards.
5. Procedure for receiving and responding to complaints of harassment
Barbara Sunchaser Yoga commits to dealing with cases of harassment promptly, efficiently and sensitively when they become aware of them. You do not have to be the recipient or target of harassment to make a report about it. You can also find the list of other possible actions here.