Purpose

a. This NPR establishes Agency-wide procedural requirements under which NASA employees and contractors shall report allegations of harassing conduct and sets forth the managers' and supervisors' responsibilities to maintain a harassment-free workplace and to take prompt and effective action when allegations of harassment arise. The NPR also identifies roles and responsibilities for the coordination of anti-harassment efforts at the Agency and Center levels and provides guidance and instruction to NASA supervisors and managers on receiving, coordinating, reviewing, processing, and resolving allegations of harassing conduct. These procedures will assist NASA in fulfilling its obligations: (1) to prevent harassment before it becomes severe or pervasive; (2) to conduct a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation into allegations of harassing conduct; and (3) to take immediate and appropriate corrective action when the Agency determines that harassing conduct has occurred. This NPR does not cover allegations of harassment brought by contractors against their own (contractor) supervisors and/or contractor coworkers.

b. The rationale for this NPR derives from the Supreme Court in the cases of Burlington Industries v. Ellerth, 524 U.S. 742 (1998), and Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775 (1998), both of which emphasized the need for effective anti-harassment procedures to prevent and correct harassing conduct promptly. Such anti-harassment policy and procedures do not exist for the same purposes as the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaints process. The EEO process is designed to make individuals whole for discrimination that already has occurred. For example, where discrimination is found to have occurred, make-whole relief may include damage awards and equitable relief paid by the agency, designed in part to have the effect of preventing the recurrence of the unlawful discriminatory conduct. The internal anti-harassment process, on the other hand, is intended to take immediate and appropriate corrective action, including the use of disciplinary actions, to eliminate harassing conduct regardless of whether the conduct violated the law. Therefore, the goal of this NPR is to address harassing conduct at the earliest possible stage, before it can become "severe or pervasive," i.e., harassment within the meaning of anti-discrimination law.

c. For the purposes of this NPR, harassing conduct is defined as any unwelcome conduct, verbal or physical, based on an individual's race, color, gender, national origin, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, status as a parent, genetic information, or gender identity, or retaliation for making reports or allegations of harassment or providing information related to such allegations when: (1) the behavior can reasonably be considered to adversely affect the work environment or (2) an employment decision affecting the employee is based upon the employee's acceptance or rejection of such conduct.

d. This NPR is designed to address all harassing conduct on the bases defined above. The process established under this NPR is entirely separate and apart from the EEO complaints process. An employee who reports harassment in accordance with this NPR has not filed an EEO complaint under 29 CFR 1614 and NPD 3713.6P. An employee who wishes to file a complaint with EEO shall contact his/her Center EO Office within 45 days of the alleged harassment.

Applicability

This NPR is applicable to NASA Headquarters, NASA Centers including Component Facilities and the Technical and Service Support Centers. Unless otherwise indicated, use of the word Center(s) in the text of this NPR includes NASA Headquarters and the NASA Shared Services Center. Any reference to Center Director(s) includes the Executive Director for the Office of Headquarters Operations and the Executive Director, NASA Shared Services Center. The Office of the Inspector General has statutory independence and may create a separate anti-harassment procedure that more effectively meets its needs.