Step 3 i. The employer shall investigate the complaint. The investigation shall be conducted by a person who shall have training and/or experience in investigating complaints of harassment. The complainant may request that the investigator shall be of the same gender as the complainant and where practicable the request will not be denied.
ii. The investigation shall be conducted as soon as is reasonably possible and shall be completed in ten (10) working days unless otherwise agreed to by the parties, such agreement not to be unreasonably withheld.
Step 2 (a) If the grievance is not resolved at Step 1, the grievant or designated representative may submit the grievance in writing on a grievance form as contained in Appendix B of this Agreement, to the Agency Head or designated representative within 15 days following receipt of the decision at Step 1. The grievance form must contain the same information as the grievance filed at Step 1. The grievance shall include a copy of the grievance form submitted at Step 1, together with the written response and documents in support of the grievance.
(b) The Agency Head or designated representative shall communicate a decision in writing to the grievant and the PBA Grievance Representative, if any, within 15 days following receipt of the written grievance. If the Agency Head fails to respond within the time limit, it shall be deemed a denial.
(c) If a grievance, alleging that a disciplinary action (reduction in base pay, demotion, involuntary transfer of more than 50 miles by highway, suspension, or dismissal) was taken without cause, is not resolved at Step 2, the PBA representative, or the grievant or grievant’s representative, if not represented by PBA, may appeal the grievance to arbitration as provided in Article 6, Section 3(G)(4), below, within 15 days after receipt of the Step 2 decision.
Step Four If the decision of the President/Superintendent is not satisfactory to the grievant or no decision is rendered, CRFO may, within fifteen days of receipt of the notification of the decision, submit a request for arbitration. The grievance, including but not limited to disputes over procedural or substantive arbitrability, shall then be submitted to an arbitrator for advisory determination.
9.4.4.1 Within five days of receiving the request for arbitration, CRFO and the District will first attempt to agree upon an arbitrator. If no agreement is reached, the parties shall request the State Conciliation Service to supply a panel of seven names of persons experienced in hearing grievances in public education. Each party will alternately strike a name until only one name remains. That person will be the arbitrator. The order of striking will be by lot. Upon mutual agreement, the list of arbitrators may be obtained from the American Arbitration Association.
9.4.4.2 CRFO and the District shall each bear their own costs associated with representation at any step in the grievance procedure, except for the costs of the arbitrator. CRFO and the District shall share equally the costs of the arbitrator’s fees and expenses and any costs for a court reporter and transcript.
9.4.4.3 As soon as possible after the arbitrator’s selection, the arbitrator shall conduct a hearing into the matter and render written findings of fact and conclusions on all the issues submitted. If the parties cannot agree upon a submission agreement, the arbitrator shall determine the issues by referring to the written grievance and the answers at each step. After the hearing both parties will have an opportunity to submit written briefs.
9.4.4.4 The arbitrator will have no power to alter, amend, add to, subtract from, or disregard any of the terms of this agreement but will recommend only if there has been a violation of this agreement. The arbitrator will be without power or authority to make any recommendation that requires the commission of an act prohibited by law or that violates the terms of this agreement.
9.4.4.5 The findings of fact and the recommendation of the arbitrator will be advisory to the Board of Trustees, which will make the final determination. Upon review of the record, if the Board of Trustees is unable to render a final determination on the record, the Board may reopen the record for the taking of additional evidence and may adopt its own written findings of fact and conclusions.
Step 1 Within fifteen workdays of the occurrence of the grieved action (or from the day the employee should have known about the action) the employee shall present a formal written grievance (on the grievance form) to Agency Head and/or his/her Designee.
Step Two a. If the grievance is not resolved at Step One of the grievance procedure within ten
