Discrimination “means conduct, including omissions, in which a person is treated less favourably than another person in a comparable situation is or has been treated or would be treated, on grounds of race, ethnic origin, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, belief or world view, and, in legal relations in which a directly applicable European Union regulation on the free movement of workers applies, on grounds of nationality.” – Act No. 198/2009 Coll., on Equal Treatment and Legal Means of Protection against Discrimination and on Amendments to Certain Acts (Anti-Discrimination Act).
Examples of discrimination
While it is not possible to capture all situations and all types of behaviour that may be considered discriminatory or harassing, the following examples may help to better understand what may be considered as such:
- Unwanted, unsolicited, and inappropriate physical contact including fondling, slapping, pinching, pushing away, groping, brushing against someone, invasion of personal space, and physical or sexual assault;
- Stalking or inappropriate attention, gifts, emails or text messages;
- Insulting or intimidating remarks or gestures, insensitive jokes and “practical jokes” that undermine someone’s dignity;
- Sexual slurs, jokes with sexual overtones, references to sexual behaviour, gossip related to someone’s sexual behaviour, questions about someone’s sexual experiences;
- Unsolicited and inappropriate staring (e.g., at cleavage), whistling at women, gestures with sexual overtones, or offensive comments;
- Unsolicited sexual advances or ambiguous behavior; comments that sexual receptivity may be career advantageous or not career advantageous;
- Mocking, parodying or humiliating someone because of their disability, age, race or other personal characteristics;
- Repeated comments or suggestions about a date, romantic relationship or other social interaction after someone has said “No” or otherwise indicated that such suggestions are not wanted;
- Disparaging or stereotypical remarks about personal characteristics;
- Sending or displaying material that is pornographic in nature or that others may find offensive (including emails, text messages, video clips and images);
- Shunning someone, such as when someone is intentionally excluded from a conversation or work activity based on personal characteristics;
- ‘Outing’ (or threatening to out/expose) someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity and deliberately confusing gender identity (for people who have undergone gender reassignment);
- Verbal or physical behaviour that diminishes someone’s dignity, is hostile to someone or expresses dislike based on personal characteristics;
- People may be offended even if they are not the intended targets of inappropriate behaviour. For example, someone may be offended by racist jokes about another ethnic group even though they are not directed at them.