Human rights & affirmative action statement
A human rights/affirmative action complaint is a claim by an employee, prospective employee, student, prospective student, or a group of same, based upon a claimed violation of the affirmative action policy of JCC, or a claimed violation of state or federal human rights laws, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 and the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act of New York State.
The affirmative action policy states that JCC does not discriminate on the basis of color, sex, sexual orientation, race, creed, national origin, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability. This policy applies to access to all activities and programs under JCC sponsorship, as well as to application and selection for admission, employment, and all other human resource procedures within JCC.
The following procedure shall be followed to resolve a human rights/affirmative action complaint. This procedure may be followed in addition to any union complaint. The complainant shall discuss the complaint informally with JCC's human rights officer, Barry Swanson, coordinator of Campus Safety and Security , in the Collegiate Center (716.338.1015) on the Jamestown Campus or human rights assistant, Paula Snyder, in College Center (716.376.7569) on the Cattaraugus County Campus. If the claim is not resolved at this stage:
A written complaint, which includes information pertaining to the incident and the outcome desired by the complainant, should be submitted to the human rights officer. A written complaint must be filed:
- within the statute of limitations for the complaint: within one year of the alleged incident for state complaints and within 300 days for federal complaints.
- the human rights officer shall conduct a preliminary investigation and discuss the issue with the parties involved, either individually or in a joint meeting.
- within 20 working days after the filing of the written complaint, the human rights officer shall render a decision in writing to the complainant.
- if the complainant, or the respondent, is not satisfied with the written decision, and wishes to proceed further, they shall, within 10 working days, file a written appeal of the decision with the human rights committee.
- within 15 working days, the human rights committee of JCC will appoint a panel consisting of impartial representatives chosen from the faculty, administration, staff, or student body.
- a hearing shall take place within 30 working days of the date the written appeal was filed at a time and place agreeable to both parties.
- the hearing panel shall render a decision in writing to both parties within 10 working days after the end of the hearing. Included in the panel's decision of validity shall be a statement of recommended disciplinary action, if warranted. Such disciplinary action is dependent upon the nature of the violation and may vary from the minimum of a written letter describing the violation placed in the violator's file to a maximum of dismissal from the institution.
- if the complainant, or the respondent, is not satisfied with the written decision and wishes to proceed further, they may take the complaint to the civil rights agency of their choice, or seek other legal remedies.