(a) Any disciplinary action involving a suspension, demotion or discharge taken against the employee shall, at the option of the employee, be subject to the appeal procedure of the Civil Service Commission or arbitration procedure provided in Section 2121.22 (Arbitration). When an employee has elected to file a grievance pursuant to the procedures set forth in said arbitration procedure and subsequently files an appeal to the Civil Service Commission, then said grievance shall be considered waived, the employee having elected to appeal to the Civil Service Commission under the Civil Service Rules, as provided by the Charter of the City.
(b) Any disciplinary action involving a verbal warning shall be subject to the grievance procedure commencing at the operational level. An appeal of the decision may be submitted to the Department of Human Resources whose decision will be final and binding on the parties. Any disciplinary action involving a written warning shall be subject to the grievance procedure commencing at the operational level. An appeal of that decision may be submitted to the Director of Human Resources, whose decision shall be final and binding. Written warnings if grieved would be proper before an arbitrator, furthermore, if said warning is reduced to a verbal as specified in Section 2121.28 (Clearing of Employee's Record) or Step One of the Progressive Disciplinary Procedure shall also be proper before an arbitrator, this would be at Step 3 of the Progressive Disciplinary Procedure or higher.
(c) A copy of the disciplinary action taken may be made available to the employee's steward at the request of the involved employee.