15. Retaliation a. Retaliation Prohibited. No institution or other person may intimidate, threaten, coerce, or discriminate against any individual for the purpose of interfering with any right or privilege secured by Title IX or this part, or because the individual has made a report or complaint, testified, assisted, or participated or refused to participate in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under this part. Intimidation, threats, coercion, or discrimination, including charges against an individual for code of conduct violations that do not involve sex discrimination or sexual harassment, but arise out of the same facts or circumstances as a report or complaint of sex discrimination, or a report or formal complaint of sexual harassment, for the purpose of interfering with any right or privilege secured by Title IX or this part, constitutes retaliation. The institution must keep confidential the identity of any individual who has made a report or complaint of sex discrimination, including any individual who has made a report or filed a formal complaint of sexual harassment, any complainant, any individual who has been reported to have engaged in sex discrimination, any respondent, and any witness, except as may be permitted by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 U.S.C. 1232g, or FERPA regulations, 34 CFR part 99, or as required by law, or to carry out the purposes of 34 CFR part 106, including the conduct of any investigation, hearing, or judicial proceeding arising thereunder. Complaints alleging retaliation may be filed according to the complaint procedures for sex discrimination under Subsection C. b. Specific circumstances i. The exercise of rights protected under the First Amendment does not constitute retaliation prohibited under Subsection a of this Subsection. ii. Charging an individual with a code of conduct violation for making a materially false statement in bad faith in the course of a complaint proceeding under this part does not constitute retaliation prohibited under Subsection a of this Subsection, provided, however, that a determination regarding responsibility, alone, is not sufficient to conclude that any party made a materially false statement in bad faith. 16. Amnesty for Reports of Title IX Discrimination and/or Harassment Under Certain Circumstances NSHE encourages individuals to report incidents of sexual violence and sexual harassment without fear of negative consequences for other policy violations that occur at or around the same time period of the reported sexual violence or sexual harassment. To support such reporting, an NSHE institution may not subject an individual to a disciplinary proceeding or sanction for a violation of the NSHE Handbook, the NSHE institutional policy, and/or the NSHE institution’s applicable Student Code of Conduct unless the NSHE institution determines, in its sole discretion, any report of an alleged incident of sexual misconduct was not made in good faith or the individual’s violation of the NSHE Handbook, the NSHE institutional policy, and/or the NSHE institution’s applicable Student Code of Conduct was egregious. Examples of egregious violations include, but are not limited to, being the one that initiated the sexual violence or sexual harassment, or through negligence, contributed to the sexual violence or sexual harassment, or other sexual misconduct, driving under the influence, manufacturing/distribution/delivery of illegal drugs, possessing with intent to manufacture/distribute/deliver illegal drugs, relationship violence, stalking, hazing, or other conduct that risked someone’s health or safety. The NSHE institution determines, in its sole discretion, whether a report was not made in good faith and what conduct constitutes an egregious violation. An individual may be particularly afraid to report certain conduct when alcohol, drugs, or other intoxicants are involved. Except for egregious violations, this amnesty policy applies when alcohol, drugs, or other intoxicants are involved, including underage drinking. 45
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy ODQ3NA==