Senate Bill 212: New Reporting Requirements for UTSA Employees Regarding Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence Cases
Senate Bill 212: New Reporting Requirements for UTSA Employees Regarding
Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence Cases
Recently, the Texas Legislature passed a bill that requires university employees to report sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence or stalking cases against a student or employee to the institution’s Title IX coordinator. The penalty for non-compliance could include termination and a criminal charge against the employee.
Essentially, if an employee learns about an incident in the course and scope of their employment that the employee “reasonably believes to constitute sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, or stalking” against a student or employee, they must report the incident to the institution’s Title IX coordinator or a deputy Title IX coordinator. Here at UTSA, those individuals are listed on the following link:
Equal Opportunity Services and Title IX Office
There are three exceptions to reporting: (1) if an employee has been designated as a confidential employee, they are required to report the type of incident, but not any information that would violate the student’s/employee’s expectation of privacy, (2) if the employee was the victim, they are not required to self-report, and (3) if the employee learned the information at a public awareness event or via a student organization, they are not required to report.
Because we are a campus that does not tolerate sexual harassment or sexual violence and because the penalties for non-compliance are significant, we urge you to report these cases to the Title IX office. If there are any unique concerns that you may have with respect to making a report or general questions about Senate Bill 212, please feel free to reach out to Venu Nair, Associate General Counsel, in Legal Affairs.
