Agreement calls for DCF and Unified School District to implement policies and procedures that better protect employees, students
NEW BRITAIN—Public service workers employed at the Connecticut Juvenile Training School (CJTS) in Middletown are welcoming the formal resolution of a five-year-old complaint against the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and the Unified School District #2 (USD). At issue were the combined failures of the agency and the district to respond appropriately to complaints of sexual harassment and for retaliation against employees who filed such complaints.
In a ruling issued June 30, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) found DCF and USD were not complying with Title IX of the Education Amendments Act. The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, including sexual harassment, in programs operated by recipients of federal financial assistance. Because they receive funding from the U.S. Department of Education, CJTS and the USD are subject to Title IX.
OCR required DCF and USD to enter into a monitoring and reporting agreement as to how they will remedy those Title IX violations. The Unified School District and the Department of Children and Families must now:
• Review and revise their sexual harassment grievance procedures;
• Ensure that complaint investigative files, witness statements, investigative reports, correspondence and communication logs are now recorded and reported;
• Submit all sexual harassment grievance procedures to OCR for review;
• Develop a record keeping system on such complaints;
• Develop guidance on sexual harassment complaints and recordkeeping;
• Report on an ongoing basis their implementation of sexual harassment grievance procedures;
• Publish all procedures on a website and in handbooks;
• Provide training to administrators, students, and all staff on their rights and responsibilities under Title IX; and
• Ensure that administrators will monitor the system and address and prevent repetitive harassing behavior at the Training School.
The OCR ruling and subsequent agreement with DCF and USD came in response to a complaint filed July 28, 2003 by more than 150 employees at CJTS. In their original complaint, the workers alleged DCF and USD fostered a hostile and unsafe work environment by failing to address reports of sexual assaults and sexual harassment; both student-on-staff and student-on-student. Workers also alleged employer retaliation for making complaints about sexual harassment and assaults.
CJTS employees Paula Dillon, a teacher and Chief Steward in CSEA/SEIU Local 2001, and Brian Goralski, a youth service officer and Chief Steward with AFSCME Council 4, Local 2663, characterized the OCR ruling "as an acknowledgement that DCF and USD put staff and residents at risk by failing to enforce Title IX laws at our facility."
"We are the voices for staff and children at CJTS," Dillon and Goralski continued. "We filed this complaint and forced these changes so we can more effectively provide services to the youth who come through our doors. The OCR's ruling sends a strong message to the agency that it must create a safe, consistent school environment for staff and residents alike."
CSEA/SEIU Local 2001 and Council 4 AFSCME represent more than 60,000 active and retired public sector workers serving in state, municipal, and town agencies, as well as local school boards across Connecticut. Both unions' membership also includes workers with non-profit organizations and private companies contracted to provide public services through state and local government agencies.
U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights ruling