West Virginia - Acts, Laws, Policies

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Federal, State, and College Anti-Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation Laws and Policies

Section 1324b of the Immigration and Nationality Act, enacted in 1986, prohibits employers from intentional employment discrimination based upon citizenship or immigration status, national origin, and unfair documentary practices or “document abuse” relating to the employment eligibility verification or Form I-9 process. Document abuse prohibited by the statute includes improperly requesting that an employee produce more documents than required by the I-9 form, or a particular document, such as a “green card”, to establish the employee’s identity and employment authorization; improperly rejecting documents that reasonably appear to be genuine during the I-9 process; and improperly treating groups of applicants differently when completing the I-9 form.

Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA), prohibits genetic information discrimination in employment. Under GINA, it is also illegal to harass a person because of his or her genetic information. Under GINA, it is illegal to fire, demote, harass, or otherwise “retaliate” against an applicant or employee for filing a charge of discrimination, participating in a discrimination proceeding (such as a discrimination investigation or lawsuit), or otherwise opposing discrimination. It is also unlawful for a covered entity to disclose genetic information about applicants, employees or members. Covered entities must keep genetic information confidential and in a separate medical file. (Genetic information may be kept in the same file as other medical information in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.) There are limited exceptions to this non-disclosure rule, such as exceptions that provide for the disclosure of relevant genetic information to government officials investigating compliance with Title II of GINA and for disclosures made pursuant to a court order. Title VII, Civil Rights Act (1964), as amended by the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, prohibits discrimination in employment (including hiring, upgrading, salaries, fringe benefits, training, and other conditions of employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex).

Title VI, Civil Rights Act (1964) prohibits discrimination or the denial of benefits on the ground of race, color or national origin (but not sex) in any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.

Equal Pay Act (1963), as amended by the Education Amendments of 1972 (Higher Education Act) prohibits discrimination in salaries (including almost all fringe benefits) on the basis of sex.

Age Discrimination Act of 1975 prohibits discrimination based on age in programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance. The U.S. Department of Education gives financial assistance to schools and colleges. The Age Discrimination regulation describes conduct that violates the Act. The Age Discrimination regulation is enforced by the Office for Civil Rights and is in the Code of Federal Regulations at 34 CFR Part 110. The Age Discrimination Act of 1975 does not cover employment discrimination.

Age Discrimination in Employment Act, enacted in 1967 and amended in 1978, (ADEA) prohibits employers with 20 or more employees from discriminating against individuals over the age of 40 with certain exceptions.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 defines and forbids acts of discrimination against qualified handicapped persons in employment and in the operation of programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance.

Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires government contractors and subcontractors to take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment qualified handicapped individuals.

Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Act of 1972 with the 1974 Amendments requires government contractors to take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment disabled veterans and veterans of the Vietnam era.

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability.

Civil Rights Act of 1991 strengthens and improves Federal civil rights laws, provides for damages in cases of intentional employment discrimination and clarifies provisions regarding disparate impact actions.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Higher Education Act) prohibits discrimination and harassment or the denial of benefits in any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance on the ground of gender. Title IX protects all participants from unlawful sex discrimination and sexual harassment, including parents, students, and employees. Sexual harassment includes acts of sexual violence including but not limited to sexual assault. Generally, Title IX covers all programs of a school or college that receives federal financial assistance including academics, housing, financial aid, counseling, extracurricular activities, and athletics, even those activities or programs that occur off campus.

West Virginia Human Rights Act The West Virginia Human Rights Act protects employees from unlawful discrimination in the workplace. It also protects individuals from being denied access or availability to establishments which offer services, goods, facilities, or accommodations to the general public because of their race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, age (40 and above), blindness and/or disability. The West Virginia Human Rights Commission enforces the West Virginia Human Rights Act.

Glenville State College Policy 6 prohibits unlawful discrimination in employment and in its programs and activities. Policy 6 also prohibits retaliation against any person making a complaint of discrimination or harassment, or against any person cooperating in the investigation (including testifying as a witness) of any allegations of discrimination or harassment.

Glenville State College Policy 13 prohibits sexual harassment. Policy13 also prohibits retaliation against any person making a complaint of sexual harassment, or against any person cooperating in the investigation (including testifying as a witness) of any allegations of sexual harassment.

Glenville State College Policy 50 is the institution’s policy on equal opportunity and affirmative action.

Glenville State College Policy 51 is the institution’s campus security policy and contains procedures for reporting and addressing criminal conduct covered by the Jeane Clery Act including but not limited to acts of sexual violence.

Additional Information about the Enforcement of State and Federal Anti-Discrimination Laws

Additional information regarding the enforcement of State and Federal anti-discrimination/harassment/retaliation laws and complaint procedures may be obtained from the Human Resources Office and from the following agencies (the following list is not meant to be exhaustive):

West Virginia Human Rights Commission
1321 Plaza East – Room 108A
Charleston, WV 25301
Telephone: 304-558-2616
Toll Free: 888-676-5546
Fax: 304-558-0085
Website: http://www.wvf.state.wv.us/wvhrc/

State ADA Coordinator
Building 1, Room E-119
1900 Kanawha Boulevard, East
Charleston, WV 25305
Telephone: 304-558-4331 x 57004
Fax: 304-558-2999
Website: http://www.ada.wv.gov/general/Pages/default.aspx

Office of Civil Rights
U.S. Department of Education
100 Penn Square East, Suite 515
Philadelphia, PA 19107-3323
Telephone: 215-656-8541
TDD: 877-521-2172
Fax: 215-656-8605
Email: OCR_Philadelphia@ed.gov
Website: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/index.html

United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
801 Market Street, Suite 1300
Philadelphia, PA 19107-3127
Telephone: 866-408-8075
Fax: 215-440-2606
TTY: 800-669-6820
Website: http://www.eeoc.gov/

West Virginia Public Employees Grievance Board
1596 Kanawha Boulevard, East
Charleston, WV 25311
Telephone: (304) 558-3361
Toll-Free: 866-747-6743
Fax: (304) 558-1106
Website: https://pegb.wv.gov/Pages/default.aspx

Relevant West Virginia Code Sections

Some relevant portions of the West Virginia Code are available at (the following list is not meant to be exhaustive):

Sex Offenses
West Virginia Code §61-8B-1, et seq.,
http://www.legis.state.wv.us/WVCODE/Code.cfm?chap=61&art=8B#08B

Stalking; harassment; penalties; definitions
West Virginia Code §61-2-9a.
http://www.legis.state.wv.us/WVCODE/ChapterEntire.cfm?chap=61&art=2&section=9A#02

Anti-Hazing Law
West Virginia Code §18-16-1, et seq.
http://www.legis.state.wv.us/WVCODE/Code.cfm?chap=18&art=16#16

West Virginia Human Rights Act
West Virginia Code §5-11-1, et seq.
http://www.legis.state.wv.us/WVCODE/Code.cfm?chap=05&art=11#11

Sex Offender Information

Pursuant to the requirements of 34 CFR 668.46(b)(12), information provided by the State of West Virginia concerning registered sex offenders is available at https://apps.wv.gov/StatePolice/SexOffender/Disclaimer.aspx?returnUrl=http%3a%2f%2fapps.wv.gov%3a80%2fStatePolice%2fSexOffender%2fdefault.aspx

Some information for this page taken from http://www2.ed.gov/policy/rights/guid/ocr/sexoverview.html and http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/qa-sex.html

Victims' Advocate (HOPE, Inc.)

Susan Bone
Victims' Advocate (HOPE, Inc.)
304-462-6463 (Daytime)
304-612-2769 (Advocate's Work Cell)
304-367-1100 (HOPE Emergency Hotline)