What is a Respondent?
A Respondent refers to a person who is responding
to allegations in a complaint filed against them for an alleged violation of
LACCD DHR policy. You may also see Respondents referred to as the alleged
offender, perpetrator, or accused.
Advisors/Advocates
Under District policy and procedures addressing DHR Complaints,
you are entitled to an Advisor or Advocate to support you throughout the
complaint process. An Advisor/Advocate can be any person of your choosing such
as a parent, friend, trusted faculty or staff member, or even a lawyer. Advisors/Advocates
can attend any meeting or proceeding throughout the entire process as long as
they are not a relevant witness. That means your Advisor/Advocate cannot speak
for you during any meeting to directly provide evidence.
If you do not have someone in mind to serve as your
Advisor/Advocate, the District has trained volunteers who can assist you
through the process.
If you elect to utilize an attorney as your Advisor, you
must provide a written letter of representation from your attorney in order for
them to participate in the process.
Confidentiality
The privacy of all parties to a complaint of discrimination,
harassment, or retaliation based on a protected class must be strictly
observed, except where limited information must be shared in order for LACCD to
meet its obligation to fully investigate allegations. That means where privacy
is not strictly kept, it will still be tightly controlled on a need-to-know
basis to parties deemed relevant. Sharing of information and/or written
materials to LACCD faculty or staff not involved in the complaint procedure is
not permitted.
LACCD and the Colleges must statistically report on campus
occurrences of major violent crimes, including hate crimes, in an annual report
of campus crime statistics. This statistical report does not include personally
identifiable information.
Under California law, communication with some individuals such as
mental health professionals or medical personnel are confidential. This means
that any information shared by a Complainant with a specific individual will
not be used against the individual in court or shared with others. Students
should always confirm whether confidentiality applies to the communication with
a specific person. Most LACCD employees are Mandated Reporters and required to
share a report of discrimination based on a protected class with the DHR
Coordinator.
As is the case with any educational institution, LACCD must
balance the needs of the individual student with its obligation to protect the
safety and well-being of the District or campus community at large. Therefore,
depending on the seriousness of the alleged incident, further action may be
necessary, including a campus security alert. The alert, however, would never
contain any information identifying the student who brought the complaint.
Supportive Measures
Supportive measures are free, individualized support services
available to students during the complaint process. Supportive measures are
meant to restore or preserve equal access to the District’s educational programs
or activities, address potential safety concerns, and deter further allegations
and/or related retaliation.
Supportive measures may include, but are not limited to
academic adjustments, referrals to support services, work schedule
modifications for student workers, and directives to eliminate communication
between parties while a review or investigation is ongoing. The DHR
Coordinator, in partnership with campus, will work with you to determine
appropriate supportive measures depending on the specifics of your report.
DHR Policy and Procedures
The LACCD Prohibited Discrimination and Harassment Policy,
which covers discrimination, harassment, and retaliation based on a protected
class is in Chapter
XV of the Board Rules.
To file a DHR Complaint, you can contact the appropriate DHR Coordinator above or submit a Complaint Form online.
To address and respond to DHR issues, DHR Coordinators
follow Administrative Regulations C-14
titled ‘Procedures for Prohibited Discrimination, Unlawful Harassment, and
Sexual Misconduct Complaints.’
Prohibited Retaliation
It is a violation of LACCD's policy to retaliate in any way
against an individual because of reporting an allegation of discrimination, harassment,
or retaliation based on a protected class forward or participating in the
investigative process. If you believe you are subjected to retaliation after
reporting forward a DHR concern or participating in an investigation, please
notify your College’s DHR Coordinator immediately.
College Specific Resources and Options
Your DHR Coordinators have created flyers for each campus
with specific contacts and resources available to those impacted by gender-based
harassment (Title IX) and DHR concerns.