The Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Dental Medicine are firmly committed to maintaining an environment free from abusive and/or intimidating behavior, defined as: harmful mistreatment by words or actions that humiliate, degrade, demean, intimidate, and/or threaten an individual or group. To violate this policy, the behavior must be sufficiently severe, pervasive, or persistent such that a reasonable person would find it creates inhospitable working conditions and/or impairs the ability to carry out responsibilities to the institution. Such behavior may include, but is not limited to:
• Abusive expression (including spoken, written, recorded, visual, digital, or nonverbal) directed at another person in the workplace, such as derogatory remarks or epithets that are outside the range of commonly accepted expressions of disagreement, disapproval, or critique in an academic culture and professional setting that respects free expression;
• Unwarranted physical contact or intimidating gestures;
• Conspicuous and unwarranted exclusion or isolation having the effect of harming another person’s reputation in the workplace and hindering another person’s work;
• Sabotaging or threatening to sabotage another person’s work or career advancement;
• Abuse of authority, such as using inappropriate threats or retaliation in the exercise of authority, supervision, or guidance, or impeding or attempting to impede another person from exercising rights under any of Harvard’s policies or procedures.
This policy is not intended to discourage or interfere with ordinary working relationships including the solicitation or delivery of constructive negative feedback where appropriate.
Recommended for Approval by Faculty Council, December 13, 2017
Promulgated by the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, December 13, 2017