Anti-Harassment
The Forest Service is committed to creating and maintaining a work environment in which all people are treated with dignity, fairness, and respect, and are free from harassment. This commitment extends to all Forest Service employees, contractors, and anyone who does business with us to include Administratively Determined (AD) and volunteers. We will hold any employee who engages in harassing behavior accountable.
Harassment is defined as unwelcome, pervasive, persistent behavior/action of one individual or group towards another individual or group that is objectively offensive and could alter or impact the terms and/or conditions of employment. Harassment may include sexual assault, sexual harassment, Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) based harassment, and other workplace harassment or bullying.
Assessing Harassing Behaviors
The difference between harassment and non-harassment in the workplace can be difficult to define. In most cases, an employee’s conflict with coworkers or supervisors is not considered harassment. However, conflict can escalate into harassment if not properly resolved.
The following are examples of what is typically not considered harassment, unless alleged as part of a pattern of inappropriate behavior, or as retaliation for reporting or opposing harassment:
Disagreement with a regulation, policy, office guidance, or a supervisor’s reasonable instruction.
Receiving discipline, performance-based actions or being reassigned.
Receiving objective/constructive feedback about work performance from a co-worker or supervisor, manager, or customer
Minor disagreements, conflict, and or routine stressors in the workplace
Being accused of harassment or misconduct; and
Being required to cooperate in an official inquiry, investigation, or authorized process.
Employees should not be discouraged from reporting harassment, even if it fits any of the descriptions above.
Sexual Assault
Sexual assault refers to any type of sexual contact or behavior that is attempted or completed against an individual's will or when an individual cannot consent because of age, disability, the influence of alcohol or drugs, or any other reason preventing the individual from providing consent.
Falling under the definition of sexual assault are sexual activities including but not limited to the following: forced or attempted sexual intercourse, voyeurism, exposure to exhibitionism, undesired exposure to pornography, public display of images that were taken in a private context or when the individual was unaware, fondling, grabbing, unwanted sexual contact and attempted rape.
Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment or misconduct is unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of sexual nature when:
Participating in the sexual activity is made a requirement to remain employed.
Participating (or not participating) in the sexual activity is used to make hiring, firing, or other employment-related decisions.
It is intended to make an employee's work environment uncomfortable, intimidating, hostile, or offensive.
Examples of sexual harassment include: verbal commentaries, jokes with a sexual connotation; behavior with sexual overtones which is intimidating or offensive to the recipient, or to one who observes such behavior or other displays; unnecessary or inappropriate touching or grabbing; making lewd gestures; pressuring for sexual activity; offensive sexual flirtation, advances, or propositioning; using sexually degrading words to describe an individual; and/or the display in the workplace of sexually suggestive objects.
Under federal laws, there are specific actions which are considered illegal sexual harassment. There are also many actions of a sexual nature which do not violate federal laws. We will not tolerate either type of sexual harassment/misconduct. Additionally, regardless of whether the acts occur at the workplace or Federal property, and whether they occur during or after work hours, individuals will be held accountable.
EEO-Based Harassment
EEO-based harassment refers to unwelcome intimidation, ridicule, insults, comments, or verbal or physical conduct based on factors such as race, color, religion, age (40 years or older), disability (physical or mental), national origin, reprisal, sex/gender (whether or not of a sexual nature), sexual orientation, marital status or parental status.
Other Harassment
Other types of workplace harassment and bullying include unwelcome, pervasive, persistent, and/or unsolicited verbal, non-verbal, written, or physical conduct that are objectively offensive and could alter the affected employee's terms and conditions of employment. Examples of this behavior include: intimidation, ridicule, insults, and making inappropriate comments or jokes.
The harassment reporting and EEO complaint processes are separate and distinct programs:
The harassment reporting process was implemented to provide a dedicated reporting method to assess allegations of harassment, and to promptly address and mitigate identified inappropriate behavior in our workplace. The Anti-Harassment policy does not offer opportunities to request or receive remedy, and there is no entitlement to a hearing in front of a third party, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Anyone who wants to file a discrimination complaint based on age, disability, genetic information, sex, sexual harassment, national origin, race, color, pregnancy, religion, or retaliation, must contact the Forest Service Office of Civil Rights to file an informal discrimination (EEO) complaint. It is important to note that filing a report of harassment through the Forest Service’s Harassment Reporting Center does not automatically result in an EEO complaint, nor does it extend any periods to file one. To file an EEO complaint or to speak with a Forest Service EEO counselor, please call 404-347-1908
You may file an EEO complaint and Anti-Harassment complaint simultaneously. For EEO, you can call the Office of Civil Rights Atlanta Service Center at 404-347-1908 to start a complaint or talk to an EEO counselor. You can also visit the Civil Rights webpage for more information.
Employees who are in a certified bargaining unit represented by a union may file a grievance in accordance with the provisions of their collective bargaining agreement. For example, employees represented by the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) have grievance rights under Article 9 of the Master Agreement. Employee represented by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) or the National Association of Government Employees (NAGE) have grievance rights in their respective agreements. In all cases, there are time limits for filing a grievance, so you should refer to your agreement or speak with a union representative. For information, visit the Human Resources Management (HRM) Intranet: Labor Relations website.
Employees who are not part of a bargaining unit may have rights under the Administrative Grievance Procedure found in DR 4070-771. For information, visit the HRM Intranet: Employee Relations website. Again, time limits apply.
Reporting Harassment
We can only act when we are aware of the behavior and encourage anyone who experiences or witnessed harassment by a Forest Service employee to immediately report it.
To report allegations of harassment, please use one of the following methods:
If you are a Forest Service employee, contractor, or other with access to the Forest Service network, the primary method to report allegations of harassment is to use the self-reporting system found under ConnectHR, HR Help function. Once in HR Help, select “new” for new case and then select “Anti-Harassment Report” to start a new case or select “Anti-Harassment General Information Query” to inquiry about prior case or ask general questions.
You may also send an email to SM.FS.WEPOAHQuery@usda.gov or call and leave a voicemail at 1-844-815-8943 and a staff member from the program will contact you.
Please send an email to SM.FS.WEPOAHQuery@usda.gov or call and leave a voicemail at 1-844-815-8943 and a staff member from the program will contact you.
Sexual Assault, Criminal Acts, or Imminent Danger
If you experience sexual assault by an employee or contractor, you should first immediately report the incident to local law enforcement. If you do not contact law enforcement, the agency is required to contact them on your behalf because this is a criminal act. After law enforcement is contacted, a report should be filed with the Forest Service through the appropriate management official.
After filing a report of harassment, an inquiry or investigation will begin. Anyone with relevant information should expect to be contacted by a Forest Service official within 14 days. To protect the privacy of all individuals, the findings of an investigation will only be shared with Forest Service officials who need to implement any corrective actions or communicate with the parties.
Reports are confidential to the extent allowable by law. However, there can be no expectation of complete confidentiality. Management officials with authority to implement appropriate action, and their advisors who have an official need to know about the complaint, will be notified of a report. And if a report of harassment is used to support disciplinary action, the employee subject to disciplinary action has a right to relevant parts of the report as part of their due process rights.
It offers an opportunity for our employees, and those who do business with us, to report outside the chain of command. The HRC is designed to document the intake of a case, which includes capturing as much information as possible prior to routing the report for an inquiry or investigation.
A supervisor or manager, whether permanent or temporary, must report all allegations of sexual harassment and/or sexual misconduct within 24-hours. Employees may send an email to SM.FS.WEPOAHQuery@usda.gov to report allegations of harassment and a staff member from the program will contact you. Supervisors must also contact local law enforcement within 24-hours if an allegation includes sexual assault, or other criminal activity of a sexual nature. The local law enforcement agency contacted must have jurisdiction to investigate the incident. In most cases this will be local city police departments or county sheriff’s offices, not Forest Service Law Enforcement & Investigations.
It is not necessary to file a report if you know that the Affected Individual or witness has already filed a report.
Reporting is a critical first step and necessary to ensure supervisors are taking effective and immediate action to protect and support our employees. Also contact your Employee Relations specialist to discuss and document your plans for immediate action to provide for the safety of the employees involved.
There is no 24-hour reporting requirement for supervisors/managers to report allegations that are not sexual in nature. However, Supervisors/managers are required to report any non-sexual harassment/misconduct within three days when: (1) the allegations meet the definitions within our policy and (2) the affected individual does not want to file a report.
Affected Individuals or witnesses are encouraged to report allegations as soon as possible. Keep in mind that discrimination complaints through the EEO complaint process must be filed within 45 days following the date of the incident(s), and grievances filed either under a collective bargaining agreement or the administrative grievance procedure also have strict time limits.
Try to resolve incidents at the lowest level possible. This may include confronting the offending person and asking them to stop the harassing behavior, when that can be done safely. If the individual is not comfortable confronting the person, or if the behavior continues, employees may report it to their supervisor or manager, or they may email SM.FS.WEPOAHQuery@usda.gov.
Only witnesses may remain anonymous when filing a report. We must collect sufficient information to begin an inquiry or investigation; this requires names of the affected individual and alleged offender. Please note the Forest Service will handle all reports in a confidential manner in accordance with applicable laws and will not tolerate any acts of retaliation against employees who file a report.
File a new report or notify a management official if you feel that you are being retaliated on. You may elevate your concern to the next level supervisor if you feel your direct supervisor is the one engaging in retaliation. All reports of retaliation will be investigated, and proven acts of retaliation will result in disciplinary action.
Inquiry & Investigation Process
What happens after a harassment allegation is reported and information you should know if you have been notified that you are involved in a harassment inquiry or investigation.
If you are a bargaining unit employee facing harassment allegations, you have the right to be represented by the union.
If you are not a bargaining unit employee and are facing harassment allegations, you have a right to representation if your representative does not pose a conflict.
If you are facing harassment allegations, you are required to cooperate in any administrative investigation. This requirement includes providing a signed statement which is outlined in DR-4070-735-001: Employees Responsibilities and Conduct.
Affected Individuals and Alleged Offenders will be informed of the outcome of the inquiry or investigation. Employees will not be informed of any actions taken against others, to protect the privacy of all parties. Affected Individuals and witnesses are not entitled to receive a copy of the report or portions of the report other than their own statement. Employees can submit a request through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), but there are exceptions that may not allow the release of the full report.
If misconduct is substantiated through the inquiry or investigation and disciplinary action is proposed, the employee subject to disciplinary action will receive a copy of the documentation supporting the proposed action, which may include all or portions of the report and statements. This is necessary because an employee facing disciplinary action has the legal right to know the charges against him/her and to defend against those charges. However, all employees are prohibited from retaliating against another for reporting harassment or for providing a statement during an inquiry or investigation. Proven acts of retaliation will result in disciplinary action.