Sophia University (hereinafter referred to as “the University”) conducts its educational activities based on the Catholic tradition and the principles espoused by the Catholic Society of Jesus, the institution that founded it, with the educational mission of cultivating people who live “For Others, With Others.”

The University regards the opinions, requests, and comments submitted by students, guarantors, and other stakeholders as important opportunities to maintain and improve its educational and research environment and university administration and responds to them appropriately in light of their content and circumstances.

At the same time, in order for the University to continue conducting its educational and research activities appropriately, it is also essential to protect the character, dignity, and safety of its faculty and staff members and to maintain a healthy workplace and educational and research environment.

Based on this perspective, the University establishes the “Sophia University Basic Policy on Measures to Prevent Customer Harassment.” Based on this policy, the University will not tolerate conduct constituting customer harassment and will respond resolutely as an organization. Please note that this policy does not prevent legitimate opinions, requests, comments, or submissions.

In this policy, “customer harassment” means any conduct occurring in the workplace of faculty or staff members that satisfies all of the following requirements (a) through (c):

(a) the conduct is engaged in by a stakeholder;

(b) in light of the nature of the duties performed by the faculty or staff member and other relevant circumstances, the conduct exceeds the bounds considered acceptable under socially accepted norms; and

(c) as a result of such conduct, the working environment or the educational and research environment of the faculty or staff member is harmed.

The following words or actions may constitute customer harassment.

1.  Physical aggression (violence, injury, throwing objects, damaging property)
2. Psychological aggression (threats, intimidation, shouting threats, insults, abusive language, defamation of reputation or credibility, denial of personality, discriminatory remarks, suggesting or implying self-harm or harm to others)
3. Sexual conduct (unwanted contact, sexual remarks, sexual demands, imposing gender roles)
4. Improper demands (coercing matters unrelated to work, requiring prostration on the floor and unreasonable apologies, demanding unreasonable financial compensation, demanding the unreasonable appointment or exclusion of a particular employee, demands that violate laws or internal regulations, repeated persistent repetition of the same content)
5. Restrictive conduct (unreasonably prolonged or repeated meetings or phone calls without justifiable reason, persistent contact late at night or early in the morning, refusal to leave, lingering, confinement)
6. Invasion of privacy (prying into personal information or hinting at disclosure, stalking behavior, following, lying in wait)
7. Unauthorized recording and filming (unauthorized recording, filming, streaming, or record-keeping that interferes with the proper operation of business)
8. Defamation on social media and in online reviews (posts containing falsehoods, exaggeration, or threats, and posts that damage reputation or credibility)

The above are examples, and acts constituting customer harassment are not limited to these.

The University will respond as an organization, without leaving the matter to individual faculty or staff members, when it determines that conduct or remarks by a stakeholder constitute customer harassment.

Depending on the nature of the matter, the University may discontinue its response, designate the method of communication or point of contact for future inquiries, restrict meetings, access to campus, or use of facilities, notify the police, collaborate with attorneys or other external experts, take legal action, or implement any other necessary measures.

In addition, the University will strive to ensure the safety of faculty and staff members who have experienced customer harassment and to safeguard their physical and mental health, while taking measures necessary to prevent recurrence.

For details of Sophia University Basic Policy on Measures to Prevent Customer Harassment, please refer to the following.

• Sophia University Basic Policy on Measures to Prevent Customer Harassment