The School of Rehabilitation Science (SRS) follows the same process as outlined within the College of Medicine to address issues of mistreatment, discrimination, and harassment. The College of Medicine and the SRS take allegations of Mistreatment, Discrimination and Harassment very seriously. This policy applies to any time in academic program including clinical placements.
Definitions of discrimination and harassment
Pursuant to the Saskatchewan Employment Act, employees have a right to a healthy and safe work environment free from discrimination and harassment. The Act includes the following categories of harassment:
Harassment:
Harassment includes any inappropriate conduct, comment, display, action, or gesture by an individual toward another individual or others that is either:
- made on the basis of race, creed, religion, colour, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, disability, physical size or weight, age, nationality, ancestry, or place of origin (also referred to as Discrimination under The Saskatchewan Human Rights Code, 2018); or,
- adversely affects the worker or learner’s psychological or physical well-being and that the person knows or ought reasonably to know would cause the worker or learner to be humiliated or intimidated; and,
- that constitutes a threat to the health or safety of the worker or learner
- for this type of harassment to be established, the following must exist
- repeated conduct, comments, displays, actions, or gestures;
- a single, serious comment, display, action, or gesture that has a lasting, harmful effect on the worker or learner
Sexual harassment:
Any conduct, comment, display, action, or gesture by a person towards a worker or learner or learner that:
- is of a sexual nature; and,
- the person knows or reasonably ought to know is unwelcome.
- Some situations of sexual harassment may include:
- any implied or express threat of reprisal for refusing to comply with a sexually-oriented request
- unwelcome remarks, lewd jokes, innuendos, propositions, or taunting about a person’s body, attire, sex, or sexual orientation
- displaying or sending pornographic or sexually explicit or offensive pictures or materials via text, hardcopy, video, or other multimedia platforms
- unwelcome physical contact/touching
- unwelcome invitations or requests, direct or indirect, to engage in behaviour of a sexual nature; and/or
- refusing to work with or have contact with an individual because of their sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation
Mistreatment:
The university does not condone behaviour that interferes with the provision of a respectful, productive environment for working or learning, but is not pervasive or significant enough to meet the definitions of harassment and/or discrimination described above. Depending upon the situation, examples of behaviour that may fall into this category include (but are not limited to) behaviour that shows disrespect for the dignity of others and unreasonably interferes with the learning process or a respectful workplace. For example:
- spreading negative rumors
- belittling or humiliating someone
- mean spirited pranks or practical jokes
- being spoken to in a sarcastic or insulting manner
- verbal aggression (examples include but are not limited to: yelling, swearing, or subjecting someone to offensive remarks or names)
- requiring someone to perform personal services
- nonverbal aggression (examples include but are not limited to: behaviours that are demeaning, intimidating or threatening)
If you have experienced or witnessed mistreatment or harassment, please contact the SRS Student Affairs Coordinator as soon as you are comfortable either via the online reporting form below or directly to the Student Affairs Coordinator. The Student Affairs Coordinator will respond to all complaints as soon as possible and work with you to establish a plan on how you would like to move forward. You may want to just talk about your experience confidentially or you may want to explore more options including a full enquiry into the matter. I may have been mistreated
Please see the mistreatment flow chart for a summary of options for addressing complaints. In addition to the options outlined in the chart, the Student Affairs Coordinator can work with you on establishing an alternate route if you are uncomfortable with the procedures outlined.