Harassment Prevention and Responses for DoD Civilian Employees/Glossary

by Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness

Glossary

G.1. ACRONYMS.

Acronym		Meaning
DoDD	DoD directive
DoDI	DoD instruction
EDFR	Executive Director, Force Resiliency
EEO	equal employment opportunity
ODEI	Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
U.S.C.	United States Code
USD(P&R)	Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness

G.2. DEFINITIONS.

These terms and their definitions are for the purpose of this issuance.

Term		Definition
bullying	A form of harassment that involves aggressive acts intended to harm, either physically or psychologically, another person without a proper governmental purpose but with a nexus to employment. Bullying includes singling out an individual from his or her coworkers for ridicule because he or she is considered different or weak. It often involves an imbalance of power between the aggressor and the individual. Bullying does not include a properly directed command or organizational activities that serve a proper military or other governmental purpose. Bullying can be conducted through the use of electronic devices or communications, and by other means including social media, as well as in person. Bullying is evaluated by a reasonable person standard and includes, but is not limited to, the following conduct when performed without a proper governmental purpose: Physically striking another person in any manner, or threatening to do the same. Intimidating, teasing, or taunting another person. Oral or written berating (including electronic medium) of another person with the purpose of belittling or humiliating. Encouraging another person to engage in illegal, harmful, demeaning, or dangerous acts. Playing abusive or malicious tricks. Piercing, branding, handcuffing, duct taping, tattooing, shaving, greasing, or painting another person. Subjecting another person to excessive or abusive use of water. Forcing another person to consume food, alcohol, drugs, or any other substance. Degrading or damaging another’s property or reputation. Soliciting, coercing, or knowingly permitting another person to solicit or coerce acts of bullying.
DoD civilian employee	Individuals appointed in the civil service by a DoD Component. Generally, contractors are not considered DoD civilian employees.
harassment	Behavior that is unwelcome or offensive to a reasonable person and that creates conditions that interfere with work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.
hazing	A form of harassment that involves conduct, without a proper governmental purpose but with a nexus to employment, intended to physically or psychologically injure or create a risk of physical or psychological injury to a person for the purpose of: initiation into, admission into, affiliation with, change in status or position within, or a condition for continued membership in any military or DoD organization. Hazing does not include a properly directed command or organizational activities that serve a proper military or other governmental purpose. Hazing can be conducted through the use of electronic devices or communications, and by other means including social media, as well as in person. Hazing is evaluated by a reasonable person standard and includes, but is not limited to, the following when performed without a proper military or other governmental purpose: Any form of initiation or congratulatory act that involves physically striking another person in any manner, or threatening to do the same. Oral or written berating (including electronic medium) of another person with the purpose of belittling or humiliating. Encouraging or coercing another person to engage in demeaning, illegal, harmful, or dangerous acts. Playing abusive or malicious tricks. Piercing, branding, handcuffing, duct taping, tattooing, shaving, greasing, or painting another person. Subjecting another person to excessive or abusive use of water. Forcing another person to consume food, alcohol, drugs, or any other substance. Soliciting, coercing, or knowingly permitting another person to solicit or coerce acts of hazing.
manager	A Service member or a DoD civilian employee who falls within the chain of command directly between any supervisor and the agency head.
offender	An individual who engages in harassment prohibited by this issuance. The individual may be a Service member or DoD civilian employee, other federal employee, a contractor, or a vendor who does business with the DoD.
pending report of harassment	A harassment report that has not been resolved by the DoD Component’s process to respond to allegations of harassment by the close of the fiscal year of the data reporting period.
reprisal	A form of retaliation that involves taking, threatening, or recommending taking an unfavorable personnel action (demote, separate, treat unfairly, etc.); or withholding, threatening, or recommending withholding a favorable personnel action, for making, preparing to make, or being perceived as engaged in the antiharassment process.
referred report of harassment	A harassment report that was received via one response process but was referred to another response process (e.g., EEO, Military Criminal Investigative Organization) during the data reporting period.
retaliation	Conduct that punishes a DoD civilian employee for asserting the right to be free from harassment in the workplace. Retaliatory behaviors include, but are not limited to, reprisal, ostracism, maltreatment, and criminal acts for a retaliatory purpose. Retaliation includes illegal, impermissible, or hostile actions taken with the knowledge of management against DoD civilian employees for: Filing or being a witness in a charge, report, inquiry, or lawsuit; Communicating with a supervisor or manager about discrimination, including harassment; Answering questions during a DoD Component inquiry of alleged harassment; Refusing to follow orders that would result in harassment; or Resisting sexual advances or intervening to protect others.
sexual harassment	Unlawful discriminatory harassment that is based on conduct of a sexual nature. It involves unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when: It explicitly or implicitly becomes a term or condition of a person’s job, pay, or career. For example: Submission to or rejection of such conduct by a person is used as a basis for career or employment decisions affecting that person; or Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance; or It is so severe or pervasive that a reasonable person would perceive, and the DoD civilian employee does perceive, the environment as hostile or offensive.
stalking	A form of harassment that includes repeated harassing, unwanted, or threatening conduct that would cause a reasonable person to fear for his or her safety or the safety of others. Stalking may occur through use of technology including, but not limited to, email, telephone, voicemail, text messaging, drones, cameras, microphones, and use of electronic tracking and monitoring and social networking sites. Stalking conduct may include, but it is not limited to: Following, spying on, or waiting for an individual in places such as home, school, work, or recreational places. Leaving unwanted items. Making direct or indirect threats to harm an individual, an individual’s children, relatives, friends, pets, or property. Posting information or spreading rumors about an individual on the internet, in a public place, or by word of mouth. Obtaining or using personal information about an individual accessed through public records, using internet search services, hiring private investigators, going through an individual’s garbage, following an individual, or contacting an individual’s friends, family, work, or neighbors. In most state and federal jurisdictions, to include that of the Military Departments under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, stalking is a crime.
supervisor	A Service member or DoD civilian employee who directly supervises one or more DoD civilian employees.
unlawful discriminatory harassment	Harassment constituting employment discrimination prohibited by: Title 7 of Public Law 88-352 (discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin); Public Law 90-202 (discrimination on the basis of age when the aggrieved individual is at least 40 years of age); Section 701 of Title 29, U.S.C. (discrimination on the basis of disability); Public Law 88-38 (sex-based wage discrimination); or Public Law 110-233 (discrimination on the basis of genetic information).