Rare Bird is committed to providing a safe and welcoming environment for ALL people; free of discrimination and harassment. To prove our commitment, we are publicly posting our business’s code of conduct and official policy on the matter.

DISCRIMINATION AND HARASSMENT FREE WORKPLACE

Rare Bird Brewpub and the State of Michigan firmly support the prevention and elimination of unlawful harassment in the employment environment be it sexual or otherwise. The department’s harassment-reporting procedures provide notice to our employees of the necessary action they must take to address any violation of this policy.

Discriminatory harassment means unwelcome advances, requests for favors, intimidation, and other verbal or physical conduct or communication based on religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, height, weight, marital status, partisan considerations, disability, or genetic information under any of the following conditions:

  1. Submission to the conduct or communication is made a term or condition, either explicitly or implicitly, to obtain employment.
  2. Submission to or rejection of the conduct or communication by a person is used as a factor in decisions affecting the person’s employment.
  3. The conduct or communication has a purpose or effect of substantially interfering with the person’s employment or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive employment environment.
  4. Verbal conduct such as threats, epithets, derogatory comments, or slurs;
  5. Visual conduct such as derogatory posters, photographs, cartoons, drawings, or gestures;
  6. Physical conduct such as assault, unwanted touching, or blocking normal movement;
  7. Retaliation for reporting harassment or threatening to report harassment.

Rare Bird will make a good-faith effort to eliminate and prevent discriminatory harassment in the workplace by:

  1. Investigating all reports of discriminatory harassment.
  2. Appointing one or more investigators to investigate allegations of discriminatory harassment.
  3. Identifying the persons to whom employees may report discriminatory harassment.
  4. Implementing appropriate education and training programs.
  5. Keeping adequate records of reports and investigations regarding discriminatory harassment charges.

An employee is obligated to report to management, in writing, if either of the following circumstances exist:

  1. The employee is subjected to unwanted discriminatory harassment in the workplace by a supervisor, manager, co-worker, or other person.
  2. The employee witnesses a supervisor, manager, co-worker, or another person in the workplace engaging in discriminatory harassment of another person.

A supervisor or manager who witnesses a subordinate employee engaged in discriminatory harassment of another person is obligated to report the behavior and take prompt and appropriate remedial action.

The procedure for reporting discriminatory harassment is as follows:

  1. If an employee is harassed or witnesses discriminatory harassment of someone else, the employee must report the discriminatory harassment in writing to a supervisory or the appointing authority’s designated investigator.
  2. If an employee is harassed or witnesses discriminatory harassment by the employee’s own supervisor, the employee is not required to report unwelcome conduct to that supervisor. The employee must report the unwelcome conduct in writing to a higher-level supervisor or an investigator.
  3. If an employee is harassed or witnesses discriminatory harassment by an investigator, the employee is not required to report unwelcome conduct to that investigator. The employee must report the unwelcome conduct in writing directly to a supervisor, another investigator, or the appointing authority.
  4. If you are approached as having (consciously or otherwise) acted in a way that might make your teammates feel unwelcome, listen with an open mind and avoid becoming defensive. Remember that if someone offers you feedback, it likely took a great deal of courage for them to do so. The best way to respect that courage is to acknowledge your mistake, apologize, and move on — with a renewed commitment to do better.

The employee is encouraged to report any discriminatory harassment immediately. However, in any event, the employee must report any discriminatory harassment within 180 calendar days after the alleged harassment.

Any violation of this work rule may result in discipline, up to and including termination of employment.

Sexual & Other Unlawful Harassment

Sexual harassment and unlawful harassment are prohibited behavior and against Company policy. The Company is committed to providing a work environment free of inappropriate and disrespectful behavior, intimidation, communications and other conduct directed at an individual because of their sex, including conduct that may be defined as sexual harassment.

Applicable federal and state law defines sexual harassment as unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or visual, verbal, or physical conduct of a sexual nature when: (1) submission of the conduct is made a term or condition of employment; or (2) submission to or rejection of the conduct is used as basis for employment decisions affecting the individual; or (3) the conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with the employees work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment. The following list contains examples of prohibited conduct. They include, but are not limited to:

  • Unwanted sexual advances;
  • Offering employment benefits in exchange for sexual favors;
  • Making or threatening reprisals after a negative response to sexual advances;
  • Visual conduct such as leering, making sexual gestures, or displaying sexually suggestive objects, pictures, cartoons, or posters;
  • Verbal conduct such as making or using derogatory comments, epithets, slurs, sexually explicit jokes, or comments about any employee’s body or dress;
  • Verbal abuse of a sexual nature, graphic verbal commentary about an individual’s body, sexually degrading words to describe an individual, or suggestive or obscene letters, notes, or invitations;
  • Physical conduct such as touching, assault, or impeding and/or blocking movements;
  • Retaliation for reporting harassment or threatening to report harassment.

Sexual harassment on the job is unlawful whether it involves coworker harassment, harassment by a manager, or harassment by persons doing business with or for the Company, such as clients, customers or vendors.

Other Types of Harassment

Prohibited harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, age, or any other basis protected under local, state or federal law, includes behavior similar to sexual harassment, such as:

  • Verbal conduct such as threats, epithets, derogatory comments, or slurs;
  • Visual conduct such as derogatory posters, photographs, cartoons, drawings, or gestures;
  • Physical conduct such as assault, unwanted touching, or blocking normal movement;
  • Retaliation for reporting harassment or threatening to report harassment.