Policy Against Harassment

Equal Employment Opportunity

The Company is committed to equal employment opportunity and to compliance with federal antidiscrimination laws. We also comply with California law, which prohibits discrimination and harassment against employees, applicants for employment, individuals providing services in the workplace pursuant to a contract, unpaid interns and volunteers based on their actual or perceived: race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status (including registered domestic partnership status), sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, lactation and related medical conditions), gender (including gender identity and expression), age (40 and over), sexual orientation, Civil Air Patrol status, military and veteran status and any other consideration protected by federal, state or local law (collectively referred to as “protected characteristics”).

For purposes of this policy, discrimination on the basis of “national origin” also includes discrimination against an individual because that person holds or presents the California driver's license issued to those who cannot document their lawful presence in the United States. An employee’s or applicant for employment’s immigration status will not be considered for any employment purpose except as necessary to comply with federal, state or local law. Our commitment to equal opportunity employment applies to all persons involved in our operations and prohibits unlawful discrimination and harassment by any employee, including partners, managers and co-workers.

The Company will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based upon these protected characteristics or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local law. The Company also does not retaliate or otherwise discriminate against applicants or employees who request a reasonable accommodation for reasons related to disability or religion.

Prohibited Harassment

The Company is committed to providing a work environment that is free of illicit harassment based on any protected characteristics. As a result, the Company maintains a strict policy prohibiting sexual harassment and harassment against employees, applicants for employment, individuals providing services in the workplace pursuant to a contract, unpaid interns or volunteers based on any legally-recognized basis, including, but not limited to, their actual or perceived race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status (including registered domestic partnership status), sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, lactation and related medical conditions), gender (including gender identity and expression), age (40 or over), sexual orientation, Civil Air Patrol status, military and veteran status, immigration status or any other consideration protected by federal, state or local law. For purposes of this policy, discrimination on the basis of "national origin" also includes harassment against an individual because that person holds or presents the California driver's license issued to those who cannot document their lawful presence in the United States. All such harassment is prohibited. This policy applies to all persons involved in our operations, including partners, employees, coworkers, managers, founders, temporary workers, agents, clients, vendors, customers, or any other third party interacting with the Company (“third parties”) and prohibits proscribed harassing conduct by any employee or third party of the Company, including nonmanagerial employees, managers, and partners. If such harassment occurs on the Company’s premises or is directed toward an employee or a third party interacting with the Company, the procedures in this policy should be followed.

Sexual Harassment Defined

Sexual harassment includes unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favors or visual, verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when:

  • Submission to such conduct is made a term or condition of employment;

    • Submission to, or rejection of, such conduct is used as a basis for employment decisions affecting the individual; or

    • Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an employee's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment.

  • Sexual harassment also includes various forms of offensive behavior based on sex and includes gender-based harassment of a person of the same sex as the harasser. The following is a partial list:

    • Unwanted sexual advances.

    • Offering employment benefits in exchange for sexual favors.

    • Making or threatening reprisals after a negative response to sexual advances.

    • Visual conduct: leering; making sexual gestures; displaying sexually suggestive objects or pictures, cartoons, posters, websites, emails or text messages.

    • Verbal conduct: making or using derogatory comments, epithets, slurs, sexually explicit jokes, or comments about an employee's body or dress.

    • Verbal sexual advances or propositions.

    • Verbal abuse of a sexual nature; graphic verbal commentary about an individual's body; sexually degrading words to describe an individual; suggestive or obscene letters, notes or invitations.

    • Physical conduct: touching, assault, impeding or blocking movements.

    • Retaliation for reporting harassment or threatening to report sexual harassment.

  • An employee may be liable for harassment based on sex even if the alleged harassing conduct was not motivated by sexual desire. An employee who engages in unlawful harassment may be personally liable for harassment whether or not the Company had knowledge of such conduct.

Other Types of Harassment

Harassment on the basis of any legally protected characteristic, as identified above, is prohibited. Prohibited harassment may include behavior similar to the illustrations above pertaining to sexual harassment. This includes conduct such as:

  • Verbal conduct including threats, epithets, derogatory comments or slurs based on an individual’s protected characteristic;

  • Visual conduct, including derogatory posters, photographs, cartoons, drawings or gestures based on protected characteristic; and

  • Physical conduct, including assault, unwanted touching or blocking normal movement because of an individual’s protected characteristic.

Prohibited Abusive Conduct

It is expected that the Company and persons in the workplace perform their jobs productively as assigned, and in a manner that meets all of management’s expectations, during working times, and that they refrain from any malicious, patently offensive or abusive conduct including but not limited to conduct that a reasonable person would find offensive based on any of the protected characteristics described above. Examples of abusive conduct include repeated infliction of verbal abuse, such as the use of malicious, derogatory remarks, insults, and epithets, verbal or physical conduct that a reasonable person would find threatening, intimidating, or humiliating, or the intentional sabotage or undermining of a person's work performance.

Protection Against Retaliation

Retaliation is prohibited against any person by another employee or by the Company for using the Company’s complaint procedure, reporting proscribed discrimination or harassment or filing, testifying, assisting or participating in any manner in any investigation, proceeding or hearing conducted by a governmental enforcement agency. Prohibited retaliation includes, but is not limited to, termination, demotion, suspension, failure to give equal consideration in making employment decisions, failure to make employment recommendations impartially, adversely affecting working conditions or otherwise denying any employment benefit.

Discrimination, Harassment, Retaliation and Abusive Conduct Complaint Procedure

Any employee who believes that he or she has been harassed, discriminated against, or subjected to retaliation or abusive conduct by a co-worker, manager, agent, client, vendor, customer, or any other third party interacting with the Company in violation of the foregoing policies, or who is aware of such behavior against others, should immediately provide a written or verbal report to his or her manager, any other member of management, the Head of Finance, or the Managing Members. Employees are not required to make a complaint directly to their immediate manager. Managers who receive complaints of misconduct must immediately report such complaints to the Head of Finance who will attempt to resolve issues internally. When a report is received, the Company will conduct a fair, timely, thorough and objective investigation that provides all parties appropriate due process and reaches reasonable conclusions based on the evidence collected. The Company expects all employees to fully cooperate with any investigation conducted by the Company into a complaint of proscribed harassment, discrimination or retaliation, or regarding the alleged violation of any other Company policies.

The Company will maintain confidentiality surrounding the investigation to the extent possible and to the extent permitted under applicable federal and state law. Upon completion of the investigation, the Company will communicate its conclusion as soon as practical. If the Company determines that this policy has been violated, remedial action will be taken, commensurate with the severity of the offense, up to and including termination of employment of the employee who violated the rules. Appropriate action will also be taken to deter any such conduct in the future.

The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) will accept and investigate charges of unlawful discrimination or harassment at no charge to the complaining party. Information may be located by visiting the agency website at www.eeoc.gov orwww.dfeh.ca.gov.