Section 1. Appeal to the Commission and Notice of Hearing for Disciplinary Action, Failure of the First Half of Probation, and Layoff/Displacement: An employee may appeal an order of dismissal, separation, demotion, suspension in excess of three working days, failure of the first half of probation, displacement, or layoff by filing a notice of appeal with the Commission (refer to Civil Service Rule 16). The notice of appeal must be in writing and filed no later than ten calendar days after the order of dismissal, demotion, failure of probation, suspension, displacement, or layoff has been filed by the appointing authority with the Civil Service Commission. Upon receipt of such an appeal, the Commission shall forthwith notify the appointing authority and shall hear, or appoint a trial board to hear such appeal within thirty calendar days after the time stamped date of receipt of the written appeal. Written notice shall be given to the appellant and to the appointing authority of the time and place of hearing of the appeal. The Commission may affirm disaffirm or modify the judgement of the appointing authority. This section applies unless superseded by a collective bargaining agreement.

Section 2. Appeal to the Commission for All Other Actions: An employee may appeal the results of a classification study, rejection of application, or the grading of an examination by filing a notice of appeal with the Civil Service Commission. The notice of appeal must be in writing and filed with the Commission not later than fourteen calendar days from the date of notice.

Section 3. Notice of Hearing: Parties (the appellant and the department) will be notified by the Commission in writing of the scheduled hearing at least thirty days prior to such hearing. Both parties must notify the Commission at least ten working days prior to the scheduled hearing date agreeing to proceed with the hearing on the scheduled date and list potential witnesses; such lists will preclude the parties from having additional witnesses testify at the scheduled hearing. Parties wishing to reschedule a hearing must do so in writing at least ten working days prior to the scheduled hearing. Failure of either party to comply with this provision shall be governed by Sections 5C and D. of this Rule.

Section 4. Contents of Appeals: All appeals to the Commission shall be written. Notices of appeal should include the following information:

A. The appellant's name, address and telephone number;

B. The name of the appointing authority and/or department/division;

C. A description or summary of the action which is being appealed.

Failure to supply the information listed above may result in dismissal of the appeal. Prior to dismissing the appeal, the Commission shall attempt to obtain the required information from the appellant. Appellants shall notify the Commission, in writing, of any change of address during the pendency of the appeal.

Section 5. Disciplinary Appeal Proceedings: Hearings shall be open to the public; however, no person may take photographs (still or otherwise) during the appeal proceedings. The proceedings shall be as informal as is compatible with the requirements of justice. The Secretary shall furnish to the Commisssion, as official documents comprising the record of appeal, the Notice of Appeal, a copy of the Notice of Disciplinary Action, Separation or Layoff (Form 32) pertaining to the appellant, and a copy of the appellant's Civil Service employment record, including past disciplinary actions, if any. The Commission shall hear evidence upon the charges and specifications as filed with it by the appointing authority. No specifications will be considered by the Commission.

A. Order of Proof - the order of proof shall be as follows:

The appointing authority shall present his evidence in support of the charges. The appellant shall then produce such evidence as he may wish to offer in his defense. The parties in interest may then offer rebuttal evidence. The Commission in its discretion may hear arguments.

B. Evidence and Counsel - the admission of the evidence shall be governed by the decision of the Civil Service Commission or trial hearing board. The Commission shall have the power to subpoena and require the attendance of witnesses; to subpoena the production of pertinent documents; and to administer oaths. The appointing authority may be represented by the City Solicitor, assistant city solicitors or other counsel designated by the City Solicitor. The appellant may also be represented by legal counsel.

C. Failure of Parties to Appear - if the employee shall fail to appear at the time fixed for the hearing, the Commission shall hear the evidence and render judgement thereon. If the appointing authority shall fail to appear at the time fixed for the hearing, and if no evidence is offered in support of his charge or charges, the Commission may render judgement as by default or may hear evidence offered by the employee and render judgement thereon. The Commission shall forthwith notify the appointing authority and the employee of its judgement.

D. Decision Rendered - the Commission shall, after due consideration, render its judgement affirming, disaffirming or modifying the action of the appointing authority as appropriate under the facts of the case. The decision rendered shall be officially recorded in the minutes and copies shall be forwarded to the appellant and to the appointing authority.

Section 6. Resignation Before Decision: The acceptance by an appointing authority of the resignation of a person dismissed before final action on the part of the Commission will be considered a withdrawal of the charges, and the separation of the employee concerned shall be recorded as a resignation not in good standing and the proceedings shall be dismissed without judgement.

Section 7. Disqualification for Promotional Examination or for Reappointment: An employee who is demoted for disciplinary reasons is ineligible for a promotional examination within one year of the effective date of his demotion.

An employee who is dismissed for misconduct or who resigns while not in good standing shall be disqualified from taking any civil service examination for two years thereafter, and his name shall be removed from all eligible lists, unless, in the judgement of the Commission, the cause of his dismissal or resignation under charges will not affect the possibility of his usefulness in some other type of employment.

Section 8. Procedure in Classification Appeals: The parties in appeals of classification studies are the employee who is incumbent in the position, his principal appointive officer, and the authority which conduct the classification study.

The Commission shall conduct a fact-finding hearing to determine the duties which are performed by the incumbent in the affected position. The witnesses shall be limited to the affected employee, his immediate supervisor, a representative of the appointing authority and the designee of the authority who conducted the classification study unless there is substantial disparity in their testimony or other reason to believe their testimony is inaccurate, to be determined by the Commission. Examination of the witnesses shall be conducted by the Commission, subject to further limited examination by the parties.

The Commission shall compare the duties performed by the incumbent employee to the appropriate class specifications and determine the classification which most appropriately describes the duties performed in the affected position.