Hearing Procedure A. The Personnel Commission may conduct hearings of appeals or may appoint a hearing officer to conduct the hearing and report findings and recommendations to the Commission. If the Personnel Commission orders a hearing, said hearing shall be held in closed session. The employee shall be given written notice of his or her right to have the complaints or charges heard in an open session rather than closed session pursuant to Government Code section 54957. The notice shall be delivered to the employee personally or by mail at least twenty-four (24) hours before the time for holding the closed session.
B. Hearings shall be conducted in the manner most conducive to determination of the truth, and neither the Commission nor its hearing officer shall be bound by technical rules of evidence. Decisions made by the Commission shall not be invalidated by any informality in the proceedings.
C. The Personnel Commission or its hearing officer shall determine the relevancy, weight, and credibility of testimony and evidence. It shall base its findings on the preponderance of evidence.
D. Each side will be permitted an opening statement (Board first) and closing arguments (employee first). The Board shall first present its witnesses and evidence to sustain its charges and the employee will then present his witnesses and evidence in defense.
E. Each side will be allowed to examine and cross-examine witnesses.
F. Both the Board and the employee will be allowed to be represented by legal counsel or other designated representation. The employee may, at his/her option, be represented by legal counsel and/or union representation, or any other person designated by the employee. If the employee files an appeal, the employee shall be required to attend the Commission Appeal Hearing, even if the employee’s designated representative appears on his/her behalf. If the employee fails to appear, the employee will be deemed to have forfeited his/her rights to further appeal and the Personnel Commission shall allow the Board of Trustee’s disciplinary action to stand.
G. The Commission may, and shall, if requested by the Board or the employee, subpoena witnesses and/or require the production of records or other material evidence.
H. The Commission may, prior to or during a hearing, grant a continuance for any reason it believes to be important to its reaching a fair and proper decision.
I. Whether the hearing is held in a public or Executive Session, the Commission, after it concludes the hearing, may deliberate its decision in Executive Session. No persons other than members of the Commission, its counsel, and the Director of Personnel shall be permitted to participate in the deliberations. If the Personnel Director or any staff was a witness in the proceedings, he shall also be barred from the Commission's final deliberations.
J. The Commission shall render its judgment in an open session as soon after the conclusion of the hearing as possible and in no event later than fourteen (14) days. Its decision shall set forth which charges, if any, are sustained and the reasons therefore.
K. The Commission may sustain or reject any or all of the charges filed against the employee. It may sustain, reject, or modify the disciplinary action invoked against the employee. It may not provide for discipline more stringent than that invoked by the Board.
L. The Commission order of judgment will be filed with the Governing Board and the charged employee and shall set forth its findings and decision. If a dismissal is not sustained, its order shall set forth the effective date the employee is to be reinstated which may be any time on or after the date of disciplinary action.
Review Protocol A narrative description of how the Claims Review was conducted and what was evaluated.
Contractor Hearing Board 1. If there is evidence that the Contractor may be subject to debarment, the Department will notify the Contractor in writing of the evidence which is the basis for the proposed debarment and will advise the Contractor of the scheduled date for a debarment hearing before the Contractor Hearing Board.
2. The Contractor Hearing Board will conduct a hearing where evidence on the proposed debarment is presented. The Contractor and/or the Contractor’s representative shall be given an opportunity to submit evidence at that hearing. After the hearing, the Contractor Hearing Board shall prepare a tentative proposed decision, which shall contain a recommendation regarding whether the Contractor should be debarred, and, if so, the appropriate length of time of the debarment. The Contractor and the Department shall be provided an opportunity to object to the tentative proposed decision prior to its presentation to the Board of Supervisors.
3. After consideration of any objections, or if no objections are submitted, a record of the hearing, the proposed decision, and any other recommendation of the Contractor Hearing Board shall be presented to the Board of Supervisors. The Board of Supervisors shall have the right to modify, deny, or adopt the proposed decision and recommendation of the Contractor Hearing Board.
4. If a Contractor has been debarred for a period longer than five (5) years, that Contractor may after the debarment has been in effect for at least five (5) years, submit a written request for review of the debarment determination to reduce the period of debarment or terminate the debarment. The County may, in its discretion, reduce the period of debarment or terminate the debarment if it finds that the Contractor has adequately demonstrated one or more of the following: (1) elimination of the grounds for which the debarment was imposed; (2) a bona fide change in ownership or management; (3) material evidence discovered after debarment was imposed; or (4) any other reason that is in the best interests of the County.
5. The Contractor Hearing Board will consider a request for review of a debarment determination only where (1) the Contractor has been debarred for a period longer than five (5) years; (2) the debarment has been in effect for at least five (5) years; and (3) the request is in writing, states one or more of the grounds for reduction of the debarment period or termination of the debarment, and includes supporting documentation. Upon receiving an appropriate request, the Contractor Hearing Board will provide notice of the hearing on the request. At the hearing, the Contractor Hearing Board shall conduct a hearing where evidence on the proposed reduction of debarment period or termination of debarment is presented. This hearing shall be conducted and the request for review decided by the Contractor Hearing Board pursuant to the same procedures as for a debarment hearing.
6. The Contractor Hearing Board’s proposed decision shall contain a recommendation on the request to reduce the period of debarment or terminate the debarment. The Contractor Hearing Board shall present its proposed decision and recommendation to the Board of Supervisors. The Board of Supervisors shall have the right to modify, deny, or adopt the proposed decision and recommendation of the Contractor Hearing Board.
Final Approval Hearing “Final Approval Hearing” shall mean the hearing at which the Court will consider and finally decide whether to enter the Final Judgment.
Hearing Procedures The hearing shall be held at the earliest convenient date, taking into consideration the established schedule of the Board or hearing officer and the availability of the CSEA representative, counsel and witnesses. The parties shall be notified of the time and place of the hearing after ensuring availability of all necessary parties. The employee shall be entitled to appear personally, produce evidence, and have CSEA representation. The employee shall be entitled to a public hearing if he/she demands it when the Board is hearing the appeal.
18.12.1 The complainant may also be represented by counsel. The procedure entitled "Administrative Adjudication" commencing with Government Code 11500 shall not apply to any such hearing before the Board or a hearing officer. Neither the Board nor a hearing officer shall be bound by rules of evidence used in California courts. Informality in any such hearing shall not invalidate any order or decision made or approved by the hearing officer or the Board.
18.12.2 All hearings shall be heard by a hearing officer (who shall be an attorney licensed in the State of California) except in those cases where the Board determines to hear the appeal itself. In any case in which the Board hears the appeal, the Board may use the services of its counsel or a hearing officer in ruling upon procedural questions, objections to evidence, and issues of law. However, the Board must employ separate counsel from the one presenting the case for the complainant.
18.12.3 If the appeal is heard by the Board, the Board shall affirm, modify or revoke the recommended personnel action.
18.12.4 If the appeal is heard by a hearing officer, he/she shall prepare a proposed decision in a form that may be adopted by the Board as the decision in the case. A copy of the proposed decision shall be received and filed by the Board and furnished to each party within ten days after the proposed decision is filed by the Board. After furnishing the proposed decision to each party, the Board may:
18.1.4.1 Adopt the proposed decision in its entirety.
18.1.4.2 Reduce the personnel action set forth in the proposed decision and adopt the balance of the proposed decision.
18.1.4.3 Reject a proposed reduction in personnel action, approve the disciplinary action sought by the complainant or any lesser penalty, and adopt the balance of the proposed decision.
18.1.4.4 Reject the proposed decision in its entirety.
18.12.5 If the Board rejects the proposed decision in its entirety, each party shall be notified of such action and the Board may decide the case upon the record including the transcript, with or without the taking of additional evidence, or may refer the case to the same or another hearing officer to take additional evidence. If the case is so assigned to a hearing officer, he/she shall prepare a proposed decision, as provided in item Section 18.12.4 above, upon the additional evidence and the transcript and other papers which are part of the record of the prior hearing. A copy of this proposed decision shall be furnished to each party within 10 days after the proposed decision is filed by the Board.
18.12.6 In arriving at a decision or a proposed decision on the propriety of the proposed disciplinary action, the Board or the hearing officer may consider the records of any prior disciplinary action proceedings against the employee in which a disciplinary action was ultimately sustained and any records that were contained in the employee's personnel files and introduced into evidence at the hearing.
Appeal Panel Award The Appeal Panel shall issue its decision (the “Appeal Panel Award”) through the lead arbitrator on the Appeal Panel. Notwithstanding any other provision contained herein, the Appeal Panel Award shall (a) supersede in its entirety and make of no further force or effect the Arbitration Award (provided that any protective orders issued by the Original Arbitrator shall remain in full force and effect), (b) be final and binding upon the parties, with no further rights of appeal, (c) be the sole and exclusive remedy between the parties regarding any Claims, counterclaims, issues, or accountings presented or pleaded in the Arbitration, and (d) be promptly payable in United States dollars free of any tax, deduction or offset (with respect to monetary awards). Any costs or fees, including without limitation attorneys’ fees, incurred in connection with or incident to enforcing the Appeal Panel Award shall, to the maximum extent permitted by law, be charged against the party resisting such enforcement. The Appeal Panel Award shall include Default Interest (with respect to monetary awards) at the rate specified in the Note for Default Interest both before and after the Arbitration Award. Judgment upon the Appeal Panel Award will be entered and enforced by a state or federal court sitting in Salt Lake County, Utah.
Appeal Process PROVIDER may appeal any adverse finding by the Contract Compliance Officer as set forth in sec. 25.08(20)(c), D.C. Ords.
Protocol The attached Protocol shall be an integral part of this Agreement.
Administrative Appeals An administrative appeal is a request for us to reconsider a full or partial denial of payment for covered healthcare services for the following reasons: • the services were excluded from coverage; • we determined that you were not eligible for coverage; • you or your provider did not follow BCBSRI’s requirements; or • a limitation on an otherwise covered benefit exists. You are not required to file a complaint (as described above), before filing an administrative appeal. If you call our Customer Service Department, a Customer Service Representative will try to resolve your concern. If the issue is not resolved to your satisfaction, you may file a verbal or written administrative appeal with our Grievance and Appeals Unit. If you request an administrative appeal, you must do so within one hundred eighty (180) days of receiving a denial of payment for covered healthcare services. The Grievance and Appeals Unit will conduct a thorough review of your administrative appeal and respond within: • thirty (30) calendar days for a prospective review; and • sixty (60) calendar days for a retrospective review. The letter will provide you with information regarding our determination.
Hearing Aids Any active employee who is insured under any one of the 9 District sponsored medical plans may request reimbursement for the costs of 10 hearing aids. The maximum amount of reimbursement shall not exceed one 11 thousand dollars ($1,000) within any three (3) year period. The cost of 12 hardware, fitting tests, and other tests related to the hearing aids purchased 13 shall be included for reimbursement purposes. 14
