Appeals from rulings of an appointing authority for such governmental agencies or districts other than the City or original hearings on charges brought by such appointing authority, shall be according to such procedures as may be provided by law.
The following procedure shall be followed on appeal from rulings of the appointing authority for the City:
(a) Procedure. If an employee so disciplined shall be dissatisfied with the finding of guilty of the appointing authority or with the penalty invoked, and if such penalty shall be more severe than that described in Section 137.15(c), such employee shall have seven (7) days in which to file with the Civil Service Commission an appeal from the ruling of the appointing authority. Such notice of appeal shall be in writing, directed to the Commission, and filed in the office of the Mayor. The Commission shall, within thirty (30) days after receiving notice of appeal, conduct a hearing on such appeal. The Commission shall give both the appointing authority and the disciplined employee not less than seven (7) days' notice of the date and time of the hearing. The hearing on appeal shall be de novo before such Commission.
(b) Hearing of Appeal. On the hearing of any appeal, the Commission shall confine its considerations to the charges originally placed against the accused employee, and no substantial amendment of, nor addition to, such charges and specifications will be permitted or considered by the Commission. The order of procedure shall be as follows:
(1) The party making the charge shall briefly state the nature of the charge and outline the evidence to be presented in support thereof;
(2) The appealing employee shall briefly state his defense to the charge and the evidence he expects to introduce in support of such defense;
(3) The party making the charge shall present the evidence in support of the charge;
(4) The appealing employee shall present the evidence in support of his defense to the charge;
(5) The party making the charge shall present any rebuttal evidence;
(6) Arguments may be permitted by the Commission; and
(7) Either party to the proceedings may waive any right to make a statement or present evidence as outlined immediately hereinabove.
The admission and exclusion of evidence, and the determination and decision of the Commission shall be guided in general by the rules of evidence and burden of proof applied by the courts in civil cases. Either party may personally represent himself or be represented by counsel. The Commission shall, after due consideration, render its judgment affirming, disaffirming or modifying in part or in whole the order of the appointing authority which was the subject of appeal. In case judgment is one of disaffirmance or modification, the appealing employee shall be reinstated under such conditions as such Commission may make in connection therewith. In case the judgment of guilty of the charge is affirmed, the Commission shall consider the performance and record of the appealing employee while a member of the classified service in determining whether or not to affirm the penalty assessed by the appointing authority.
If the appellant fails to appear at the time and place fixed by the Commission to prosecute his appeal, the appeal may be dismissed by the Commission. If the party making the charge fails to appear at such time and place and offer evidence in support of his charges and specifications, the Commission may hear evidence offered by the appellant and render its decision on the merits. The acceptance by the appointing authority of the resignation of any such appellant before final action on the appeal by the Commission shall be considered as a withdrawal of the charges, and thereupon the appeal shall be dismissed without decision and the action of the employee thus resigning shall be entered as a resignation.
The proceedings in an original hearing by the Commission on charges brought by the appointing authority shall be considered by the Commission in the same manner as outlined in this subsection (b). Upon a finding of guilty, the Commission shall assess the penalty, which may include termination of employment and removal from the service. In determining the penalty, the Commission shall consider the performance and record of such employee while a member of the classified service.
(A.O.; Ord. 153-2021. Passed 12-6-21.)