Non Discrimination and Non Harassment Policies

Non-Discrimination
Berkeley Law and its Career Development Office (CDO) are committed to principles of nondiscrimination and equality of opportunity and firmly expect that employers who interview or hire Berkeley Law students, mentors who work with the Berkeley Law community, offsite hosts, and those who engage with our students will observe such principles and model good behavior.

We do not make our services, interviewing facilities, or jobs posting database available to employers who discriminate on the basis of national origin, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender (including identity and expression), disability, age, pregnancy, medical condition, ancestry, marital status, citizenship, service in the uniformed services, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.  

Harassment
Our expectations that our students will be treated professionally, respectfully, and free from discrimination and harassment extend to offsite student internships, mentorship activities, and other events regardless of whether they are taking place in person, over the phone, or online. 

Examples of unprofessional activity include:

  • Using sexual innuendos, making jokes of a sexual nature, commenting about a person’s physical appearance, or asking inappropriately personal questions.
  • Physical touching without expressed verbal consent, including repeatedly standing too close to or brushing up against a person.
  • Assigning work duties based on gender, age, or disability and not based on merit.

It is also important to ensure that the real or perceived authority of your employees or mentors is not used in a way that would make a student feel the need to engage in unwanted activity to receive future academic or employment benefits. Examples include:

  • Asking a student (who may be counting on you for work, a special project, a recommendation, a reference, etc.) for a date, a personal phone number, or to engage in off-duty activities one-on-one.
  • Emailing, texting, posting on social media messages of a personal affection, requesting to socialize and/or date, or sending inappropriate pictures.

The University of California’s Policy on Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment applies to all interactions with our students, whether on or off campus and employers, mentors, and others who engage with Berkeley Law students in any capacity are expected to be familiar – and fully comply — with its provisions as well as those contained in the University of California’s Nondiscrimination Policy.   

If you see or hear of behavior that violates this expectation, you are encouraged to intervene, speak up, or contact the CDO Assistant Dean, Eric Stern, at estern@berkeley.edu or Berkeley’s Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination at ask_ophd@berkeley.edu.  

Thank you for supporting our students’ academic and professional development endeavors by building and maintaining respectful relationships.