(a) The City Fire Chief shall have the exclusive right to suspend any fireman or employee in the City Fire Department who is under his management and control for incompetence, gross neglect of duty, gross immorality, habitual drunkenness, failure to obey orders given them by the proper authority or for any other reasonable or just cause, including those provided in the Civil Service Rules and Regulations.
(b) If a fireman or employee is suspended, the Fire Chief shall immediately certify this fact in writing together with the cause for the suspension, to the Mayor and the Civil Service Commission, and shall immediately serve a true copy of the charges upon the person against whom they are made. Within five (5) days after receiving this certification, the Mayor shall inquire into the cause of the suspension and shall render a judgment on it. If the Mayor sustains the charges, his judgment may be for the person's suspension, reduction in rank, or removal from the Department.
(c) An employee who is suspended for more than three (3) working days, discharged, or demoted, may appeal in writing to the Civil Service Commission within seven (7) days of receiving the written notice of action being taken.
(d) Upon receipt of a timely appeal from an order of termination, demotion, or suspension for more than three (3) days, the Commission shall set a time and place to hear the appeal within thirty (30) calendar days of the receipt of the employee's timely written appeal and commence the hearing procedures as outlined in its adopted Rules and Regulations.
(e) Either the employee or the department head may appeal the Commission's action to the appropriate Court of Common Pleas within the period allowed pursuant to Ohio R.C. Chapter 2506.
(Ord. 12-2023. Passed 5-9-23.)