A. Appeal Authority: The Administrative Hearing Officer for Farmington City is designated as the appeal authority for any appeal of an employee that is terminated, suspended for greater than two days, or transferred into a position with less remuneration, and which employee is not exempt under Section 3-4-045 of this Code. In the case of a conflict of interest or unavailability, the City Manager may appoint a provisional hearing officer to oversee the proceedings.
B. Filing of Appeal: An employee who is not exempt under section 3-4-045 who wishes to file an appeal of a disciplinary action described in section 3-4-040 must submit a written notice of appeal, describing in detail the grounds for the appeal with any supporting documentation, to the City Recorder within ten (10) calendar days following the disciplinary action giving rise to the appeal, or an employee will be deemed to have waived all appeal rights.
C. Proceedings: Hearings and decisions of the administrative hearing officer shall be held and rendered as soon as reasonably practicable, with no unreasonable delay.
1. Both the appealing employee and the city shall be entitled to appear at the appeals hearing, to be represented by counsel, to have the hearing open to the public, to confront witnesses whose testimony is offered during the hearing, and to examine the evidence to be considered by the administrative hearing officer.
2. The administrative hearing officer may request the appointment of independent medical or other technical experts, in the administrative hearing officer's sole discretion, if the administrative hearing officer believes that the expert's opinion is necessary for the resolution of the case.
3. All documentation to be presented at the appeals hearing shall be made available by each party upon written request of the party seeking the documentation at least six business days prior to the scheduled hearing date; all request for documents shall be considered to be ongoing up to and through the time of the hearing.
4. Any party may, no later than four business days prior to the date of the appeal hearing or cutoff date for a decision, submit to the administrative hearing officer a written brief, no more than ten pages in length, with supporting documentation, which articulates that party's arguments and position regarding the subject matter of the appeal.
5. Copies of any written brief shall be concurrently forwarded to the opposing party, and a reply brief may be submitted in response no later than two business days prior to the hearing date or cutoff date for a decision.
D. Governing Rules: The Utah Rules of Evidence, Utah Rules of Civil Procedure and Utah Administrative Code do not apply to administrative hearings. Hearings are conducted to be fundamentally fair to the parties and to provide due process. The administrative hearing officer may entertain objections in order to maintain decorum and to address issues of relevance.
E. Hearsay Evidence: There is no rule against the admission or consideration of hearsay evidence in appeal proceedings. A decision may not be based solely upon hearsay evidence.
F. Pre-Hearing Motions: With the exception of a request for an order requiring the release of documents which have been requested or scheduling matters, no pre-hearing motions shall be entertained by the administrative hearing officer.
G. Record: An audio recording of the hearing shall be kept and all exhibits received in evidence at the hearing shall be maintained.
H. Decision: The administrative hearing officer shall, within fifteen (15) calendar days of the conclusion of the hearing, transmit the decision to the employee, the department director, the human resource manager and the city recorder for certification. The city recorder shall certify the decision by placing the city's official seal on the document, and the date of certification.
I. District Court Appeal: The written ruling of the administrative hearing officer shall be the final administrative decision of the city and the decision may be appealed by either party to the Utah Court of Appeals within thirty (30) calendar days from the date on which the administrative hearing officer's decision is certified by the City Recorder. (Ord. 2012-18, 5-15-2012; amd. Ord. 2023-31, 6-6-2023; Ord. 2023-65, 11-14-2023)