The Staff Grievance Hearing Procedure

There will be at least three parts to each hearing, including: a) the opening comments, b) presentation of evidence, including witness statements, and c) closing comments. The Grievant shall be heard first followed by the Respondent. 

The Grievance Officer shall provide assistance to the Grievance Committee but shall not be a member of the Committee. The Grievance Officer shall administer the hearing and keep order. 

Any member of the Grievance Committee may be removed, when necessary, to protect the integrity of the grievance process, at the discretion of the Grievance Officer.  

Opening comments and closing comments shall each be limited to no more than 30 minutes. No strict time limit shall be placed upon the presentation of evidence. 

All hearing sessions shall be closed to the public.  Grievance Committee members, parties, witnesses, and others involved in the hearing and/or committee deliberations are expected to maintain confidentiality of these matters; provided that disclosure is permitted to university personnel with official responsibility or need to know or otherwise as may be required by law or university policy. 

Only evidence related to the specified issues in the Formal Notice of Grievance Form may be introduced in the hearing. Both parties to the grievance shall be provided copies of whatever materials are introduced as evidence. 

The Grievant, Grievance Committee, or the Respondent(s) may request the presence, at the hearing, of anyone having information pertinent to the grievance.  The request for witnesses, must be made in writing to the Grievance Officer and include the names of said witnesses and the general content and nature of witness testimony so the Grievance Officer may determine the relevance of planned testimony. Names must be provided to the Grievance Officer at least five (5) working days in advance of the hearing. Witnesses have the right to refuse to testify. The names of witnesses shall be available to each party upon request. The Grievance Committee may re-call witnesses for additional questioning after initial witnesses for both parties have been heard unless those witnesses have been told they are released from providing any further information. 

In the event of a disagreement about the pertinence of the information to be considered, the Chair of Grievance Committee, in consultation with other Committee Members and the Grievance Officer, may make a determination regarding whether to consider the offered information, taking into account the likely usefulness of the information in reaching a fair determination in the matter and the efficient conduct of the grievance process. 

The grievance hearing shall be taped, via voice recording. Participants are asked to identify themselves for recording on the tape. At the conclusion of the grievance, the tape will be included with the grievance record. 

The final content of the proposal for resolution shall be the responsibility of the Grievance Committee and submitted to the Grievance Officer by the Chair. It shall include: (a) a summary of the key points identified in the hearing that related only to the allegations specified in writing, (b) a determination, based on the evidence in the record and presented during the hearing, of whether university policies and procedures were followed, (c) specific recommendations on the Grievant’s request(s) for relief, and (d) the reasoning for the course of action proposed, if applicable. The written findings must be submitted to the Grievance Officer within five (5) working days of the conclusion of the hearing.

 

Friday, August 19, 2016 12:40 PM