Unethical Relationships
Section: Employee Conduct & Responsibilities
Responsible Offices: Office of Human Resources
Effective Date: 1/17/25
POLICY
As a matter of sound judgment and professional ethics, all employees have a responsibility to avoid any apparent or actual conflict between their professional responsibilities and personal relationships.
The following Policy is in reference to mutually consenting relationships. Unsolicited and unwelcome advances of a sexual or romantic nature may violate the University’s Harassment and Discrimination Policy and/or the University’s Sexual Misconduct Policy.
For the purposes of this Policy, Direct Authority is defined as direct academic, financial, evaluative, counseling, supervisory, informal or formal mentoring, over an individual in an academic, co-curricular, extra-curricular, or employment setting at the University.
Relationships between Colleagues:
No faculty or staff member shall enter into a sexual or romantic relationship with another faculty or staff member over whom he or she has Direct Authority. Conversely, no faculty or staff member shall exercise Direct Authority over any other faculty or staff member with whom he or she has, or previously had, a sexual or romantic relationship. If such a situation preexists or arises, it will not be considered a violation of this Policy if the party in the position of greater authority promptly recuses him or herself from any role with Direct Authority over the other party, and discloses the relationship to the Vice President of Human Resources.
Parties must cooperate in the development of a plan to mitigate potential or actual conflicts of interests and/or perceptions of exploitations and favoritism.
Relationships between Faculty/Staff and Students:
No faculty or staff member shall enter into a sexual or romantic relationship with a student over whom that faculty or staff member has Direct Authority. Conversely, no faculty or staff member shall exercise Direct Authority over a student with whom the faculty or staff member currently has, or previously had, a sexual or romantic relationship. Further, no faculty member shall enter into or engage in a consensual sexual or romantic relationship with a student who is enrolled in any academic program or department in which the faculty member participates.
If any of the above situations preexist or arise, the employee has an obligation to disclose the relationship to the Vice President of Human Resources.
Special Considerations regarding Faculty and Undergraduate Students: The legal, administrative, and ethical concerns expressed in this Policy apply with particular force to sexual or romantic relationships between faculty and undergraduate students. Because of the heightened risk of a real or perceived power imbalance between faculty and undergraduate students, no faculty member shall engage in a sexual or romantic relationship with any student currently enrolled as an undergraduate at Iona University, regardless of whether the faculty member exercises academic or other authority over that student.
Complaint Procedure and Consequences of Violations:
Those who wish to file a complaint regarding a violation of this Policy may contact the Vice President of Human Resources. If any faculty or staff are found in violation of the terms of this Policy, disciplinary action will be taken in accordance with relevant disciplinary procedures. Violations of this Policy may result in disciplinary actions which can include, but are not limited to, written warnings, loss of privileges, mandatory training, probation, suspension, demotion, revocation of tenure, and termination of employment.