Disciplinary Action For Permanent Classified Employees

A. As used herein, "disciplinary action" shall mean suspension without pay, demotion, reduction of pay step in class, or dismissal.

B. In addition to any disqualifying or actionable causes otherwise provided for by statute or by policy of the District, each of the following constitutes cause for disciplinary action against a permanent classified employee.

1. Falsifying any information supplied to the District, including, but not limited to, information supplied on application forms, employment records, or any other District records.
2. Incompetence
3. Inefficiency.
4. Neglect of duty.
5. Insubordination.
6. Dishonesty.
7. Drinking alcoholic beverages while on duty or in such close time proximity thereto as to cause any detrimental effect upon the employee or upon employees associated with him/her.
8. Addiction to the use of narcotics.
9. Absence without leave.
10. Conviction of a felony, conviction of any sex offense made relevant by provisions of the Education Code, or conviction of a misdemeanor which is of such a nature as to adversely affect the employee's ability to perform the duties and responsibilities of his/her position. A plea of guilty, or a conviction following a plea of nolo contendere is deemed to be a conviction within the meaning of this section.
11. Immoral conduct.
12. Discourteous treatment of the public, pupils, or other employees.
13. Unlawful discrimination - sexual harassment.
14. Improper political activity as governed by the federal and state law.
15. Willful disobedience.
16. Misuse of District property.
17. Violation of District, Board, or departmental rule, policy, or procedure.
18. Failure to possess or keep in effect any license, certificate, or other similar requirement specified in the employee's class specification or otherwise necessary for the employee to perform the duties of the position.
19. Refusal to take and subscribe any oath or affirmation which is required by law in connection with his/her employment.
20. Physical or mental disability which disability precludes the employee from the proper performance of his/her duties and responsibilities as determined by competent medical authority, except as otherwise provided by contract or by law regulating retirement of employees.
21. Any other failure of good behavior either during or outside of duty hours which is of such nature that it causes discredit to the District or his/her employment.

C. Except as defined in B.19., above, no disciplinary action shall be taken for any cause which arose prior to the employee's becoming permanent, nor for any cause which arose more than two years preceding the date of the filing of the notice of cause unless such cause was concealed or not disclosed by such employee when it could be reasonably assumed that the employee should have disclosed the facts to the District.

D. The Senior Director, Human Resources, President/Superintendent or his or her designee, may initiate a disciplinary action as defined herein against a permanent classified employee.

E. In all such cases involving a disciplinary action, the Senior Director, Human Resources shall file a written recommendation of disciplinary action, approved as to form by the District's legal counsel, with the President/Superintendent. A copy of the recommendation shall be served upon the employee either personally or by mail, to the employee's last known address. The recommendation shall include;

1. a statement of the recommended disciplinary action (suspension without pay, demotion, reduction of pay step in class, or dismissal);
2. a statement of the causes therefor as set forth in B., above;
3. a statement of the specific acts or omissions upon which the causes are based; if a cause stated in B.17., above, is alleged, the rule, policy or procedure violated shall be set forth in the recommendation;
4. a statement of the employee's right to appeal the order and the manner and time within which his/her appeal must be filed; and
5. a card or paper, the signing and filing of which shall constitute a demand for a hearing.

F. In any case where it has been determined that a formal recommendation of disciplinary action should be made against a permanent classified employee and that continuation of the employee in active present status after a written recommendation of such disciplinary action has been issued would result in an unreasonable risk of or threat to student, staff, or property, an adverse effect on discipline or morale in the work place, fostering of disharmony, or an impediment to the efficient operation of the District during the time the proceedings are pending, the President/Superintendent, or the designated representative of the President/Superintendent, may order the disciplinary action into effect immediately as part of the formal recommendation of disciplinary action. Such order shall be contained in the formal recommendation of disciplinary action.

Except in cases of emergency where the employee must be removed from the premises immediately, at least five calendar days prior to the effective date of any order of immediate interim implementation of disciplinary action issued in conjunction with any recommendation of disciplinary action involving suspension without pay for more than five days, demotion, reduction in pay step in class, or dismissal, the President/Superintendent, or the designated representative of the President/Superintendent shall give the employee written notice of the proposed recommendation of disciplinary action, including notice that an order of immediate interim implementation of the disciplinary action is being considered, the causes and reasons for the proposed action, a copy of the materials upon which the proposed action is based, and the right to respond either orally or in writing to the initiating party prior to the issuance of the final recommendation of dismissal and order of
immediate interim implementation. Any response made by the employee shall be considered by the initiating party prior to issuing any recommendation and order. In the event emergency circumstances require removal of the employee from the work site immediately, such notice and right to respond shall be provided to the employee at the earliest reasonable time after his/her removal from the premises. In any case where the recommended disciplinary action is a suspension without pay for five workdays or less, the President/Superintendent, or the designated representative of the President/Superintendent, may order the suspension into effect immediately on an interim basis, but shall either during the suspension or within five workdays thereafter give the employee written notice of the action including the causes and reasons therefor, a copy of the charges and materials upon which the action is based, and a right to respond either orally or in writing to the person who ordered the suspension into effect.

G. The employee may, within five calendar days after service of the recommendation of disciplinary action described in E. above, appeal to the Board of Trustees by signing and filing the card or paper included with the recommendation. Any other written document signed and appropriately filed within the specified time limit by the employee shall constitute a sufficient notice of appeal. A notice of appeal is filed only by delivering the notice of appeal to the office of the President/ Superintendent during the normal work hours of that office. A notice of appeal may be mailed to the office of the President/Superintendent but must be received no later than the time limit stated herein.

If the employee against whom a recommendation of disciplinary action has been filed fails to file a notice of appeal within the time specified in these rules, the employee shall be deemed to have waived his/her right to appeal, and if the person making the recommendation has not already ordered the disciplinary action into effect on an interim basis, the person making the recommendation may order the recommended disciplinary
action into effect immediately. A copy of such order shall be served upon the employee by mail, and copy shall be delivered to the President/Superintendent, and to the Board of Trustees for approval or ratification.

H. At any time before an employee's appeal is finally submitted to a hearing officer for decision, the person making the recommendation may serve on the employee and file with the President/Superintendent an amended or supplemental recommendation of disciplinary action. If the amended or supplemental recommendation presents new causes or allegations, the employee shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity to prepare his defense thereto. Any new causes or allegations shall be deemed controverted and any objections to the amended or supplemental causes or allegations may be made orally at the hearing and shall be noted in the record.

I. 1. The appeal shall be heard by a hearing officer unless the Board of Trustees directs that the appeal be heard by the Board.

In any case in which the Board hears the appeal, the Board may utilize the services of its counsel or a hearing officer in ruling upon procedural questions, objections to evidence, and issues of law. The Board shall affirm, modify, or revoke the recommendation or disciplinary action and any order of immediate implementation of personal action issued with the recommendation of disciplinary action.

2. If the appeal is heard by a hearing officer, he/she shall prepare a proposed decision in such form that it may be adopted by the Board of Trustees as the decision in the case. A copy of the proposed decision shall be received by the Board. A copy shall also be furnished to each party within ten days after the proposed decision is filed or received by the Board. The Board may:

a. adopt the proposed decision in its entirety;
b. reduce the disciplinary action set forth therein and adopt the balance of the proposed decision;
c. reject a proposed reduction in penalty, approve the penalty sought by the initiating party or any lesser penalty, and adopt the balance of the proposed decision; or
d. reject the proposed decision in its entirety.

3. The appeal hearing shall be held at the earliest convenient date, taking into consideration the established schedule of the Board of Trustees or hearing officer and the availability of counsel and witnesses. The employee shall be entitled to appear personally, produce evidence, and have counsel and a public hearing. The initiating party may also be represented by counsel. The procedure entitled "Administrative Adjudication," commencing at Section 11500 of the Government Code, shall not be applicable to any such hearing before the Board or a hearing officer. Neither the Board nor a hearing officer shall be bound by rules of evidence used in California courts. Informality in any such hearing shall not invalidate any order or decision made or approved by the hearing officer or the Board. The District has the burden of proof in such hearing process.

4. If the Board of Trustees rejects the proposed decision in its entirety, each party shall be notified of such action and the Board may decide the case upon the record including the transcript, with or without the taking of additional evidence, or refer the case to the same or another hearing officer to take additional evidence. If the case is so assigned to a hearing officer, he/she shall prepare a proposed decision as provided in subdivision I.2., above, upon the additional evidence and the transcript and other papers which are part of the record of the prior hearing. A copy of such proposed decision shall be furnished to each party within ten days after the proposed decision is filed by the Board.

5. In arriving at a decision or a proposed decision on the propriety of the proposed penalty, the Board of Trustees or the hearing officer may consider the records of any prior disciplinary action proceedings against the employee in which a disciplinary action was ultimately sustained and any records contained in the employee's personnel file if such records were introduced into evidence at the hearing.

6. The decision of the Board of Trustees shall be in writing and shall contain findings of fact and the disciplinary action approved, if any. The findings may be stated in the language of the pleading or by reference thereto.

J. The decision of the Board of Trustees shall be delivered to the initiating party from whose recommendation the appeal is taken and shall forthwith be enforced and followed by him/her. A copy of the decision shall be delivered to the appellant or his/her designated representative personally or by mail. The decision of the Board of Trustees shall be final.

K. Any suspensions invoked under these rules against any one person in the classified service for one or more periods shall not aggregate more than ninety calendar days in any twelve month period; provided, however, this time limitation is inapplicable to cases in which disciplinary action of dismissal is modified by the Board of Trustees to a suspension.

L. Special Leave Pending Disposition of Criminal Charges:
Notwithstanding any provision herein to the contrary, whenever a classified employee of this District is charged with the commission of any sex offense as defined in Section 87010 of the Education Code or any narcotics offense as defined in Section 87011 of the Education Code, or a violation of subdivision I of Section 261 of the Penal Code, Sections 11357 to 11361, inclusive, 11363, 11364, or 11377 to 11382, inclusive, insofar as such sections relate to, any controlled substances in paragraphs 4 or 5 of subdivision (b) of Section 11056, or any controlled substances in subdivision (d) of Section 11054, except paragraphs 10, 11, 12, and 17 of such subdivision, of the Health and Safety Code by complaint, information or indictment filed in a court of competent jurisdiction, the Board of Trustees may immediately place the employee on a compulsory leave of absence for a period of time extending for not more than 30 days after the date of entry of the judgment in the proceedings. An employee so placed on leave of absence shall continue to be paid his regular salary during the period of the leave of absence if and during such time as he furnishes to the District a suitable bond, or other security acceptable to the Board of Trustees, as a guarantee that the employee will repay to the District the amount of salary so paid to him during the period of the leave of absence in case the employee is convicted of such charges, or he does not return to service after such period of leave of absence. If the judgment determines that the employee is not guilty of such charges, or if the complaint, information or indictment is dismissed, the District shall reimburse the, employee for the cost of the bond; or, if the employee has not elected to furnish such bond, the District shall pay to the employee his full compensation less deductions for outside income earned during the leave of absence during the period of the leave of absence upon his return to service in the District.

Any employee who has been placed on leave of absence by the Board of Trustees pursuant to the above paragraph may, pursuant to procedures set forth above in paragraphs A through K, be suspended without pay by the President/Superintendent at any time prior to or subsequent to the termination of the leave of absence ordered by the Board pursuant to a recommendation by the President/Superintendent that said employee be dismissed from employment on grounds which include the incident upon which criminal charges were based.

The provisions of this regulation shall be applicable to any classified employee against whom criminal charges as defined in the first paragraph, above, are pending and upon which no judgment, dismissal or other disposition has been rendered as of the date of adoption of this regulation, for the purpose of ordering a leave of absence which commences after the date of adoption of this regulation, and to any employee against whom such criminal charges are filed in the manner prescribed by said first paragraph after the adoption of this regulation. (EC 88013)


Adopted by the Board of Trustees: September 19, 1977
Amended: 2/4/80, 6/21/82, 4/7/97