There shall be a personnel review board consisting of three qualified electors of the town appointed by the town council to serve for three- year terms. There shall be no more than two board members belonging to the same political party. The jurisdiction of the board shall extend to all cases of appeals from dismissals, suspensions, demotions, or layoffs of employees of the town in the classified service, except those provided for otherwise in the Charter.
Any such person against whom any disciplinary action is taken by the appointing authority, may appeal in writing to the personnel review board within ten days of his receipt of written notification of said action. Unless said appeal has been withdrawn, the personnel review board, within ten days from the filing of said appeal, shall conduct a hearing, at which it shall give the appellant, the appointing authority, and the department head, board or other agency involved, an opportunity to be heard. After said hearing, which shall be public at the option of the appellant, the personnel review board may affirm, or if it finds disciplinary action to be arbitrary and capricious or based upon erroneous understanding of facts reverse or modify the disciplinary action taken, and the action of the personnel review board shall be final and binding. The review accorded herein shall be deemed to be alternative to that granted by general and special state laws to certain classes of town employees. Upon reinstatement for any reason, the employee shall be paid in full for the wages lost during the period of said disciplinary action less all interim earning or amounts reasonably earnable by the employee, including but not limited to wages and wage substitutes (such as workers compensation or unemployment compensation). At any hearing it shall be the right of the appellant to be represented by counsel. (Amended, December 6, 1976; Amended, November 5, 2002; Amended, November 4, 2008; Amended, November 6, 2012.)