This text of Alabama § 45-58A-111.12 (Appeals of Suspension, Demotion, or Termination) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.
(a)A regular employee may appeal suspension, or demotion, or termination, pursuant to Section 45–58A–111.11(e)(2), by filing with the director within 10 calendar days of receiving the disciplinary notice a written answer to the charge with a request for a hearing that contains all of the following:
(1)A copy of the disciplinary notice provided in Section 45–58A–111.11(c).
(2)An admission or denial of the charge in the disciplinary notice.
(3)If the employee admits the charge in whole or in part, the reason why the discipline is inappropriate.
(b)Upon receiving the answer, the director shall forward a copy to the board.
(c)The city, as principal of the appointing authority who imposed the suspension, demotion, or termination, shall be the responding party.
(d)The effective date of th
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(a)
A regular employee may appeal suspension, or demotion, or termination, pursuant to Section 45–58A–111.11(e)(2), by filing with the director within 10 calendar days of receiving the disciplinary notice a written answer to the charge with a request for a hearing that contains all of the following:
(1)
A copy of the disciplinary notice provided in Section 45–58A–111.11(c).
(2)
An admission or denial of the charge in the disciplinary notice.
(3)
If the employee admits the charge in whole or in part, the reason why the discipline is inappropriate.
(b)
Upon receiving the answer, the director shall forward a copy to the board.
(c)
The city, as principal of the appointing authority who imposed the suspension, demotion, or termination, shall be the responding party.
(d)
The effective date of the disciplinary action shall not be stayed pending the hearing.
(e)(1) The board shall order a public hearing of the charges. The hearing shall be for the purpose of determining whether or not the employee, by reason of his or her act or acts as charged and his or her record of service, merits retention in the service or if the employee should be removed from the service or otherwise disciplined; and to that end the board shall not be bound by the technical rules of evidence but shall diligently seek all the information bearing on the merits of the case. Each party at interest may be represented by counsel.
(2)
The hearing may be before the board or a hearing officer appointed by the board. If the matter is heard by a hearing officer appointed by the board, the hearing officer shall be a practicing attorney licensed in this state and shall take testimony offered in support and denial of such charges and, from the same, submit to the board within five days a finding of facts involved and a recommended decision. The board at its next regular or special meeting shall consider the report and set aside or affirm the report and certify its findings to the appointing authority who shall forthwith put the same into effect. If the board hears the charges, it shall make its own opinion and decision.
(3) Discovery may be obtained by one or more of the methods provided under the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, including written interrogatories, depositions, requests for production of documents or items for inspection or copying, and requests for admissions addressed to parties. The Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure may be used as a general guide for discovery practices and proceedings before the board. However, the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure shall be deemed to be instructive rather than controlling. A party seeking discovery from another party shall initiate the process by serving a request for discovery on the other party.
(4) When a request for discovery is directed to an officer or employee of the city, the city shall make the officer or employee available on official time for the purpose of responding to the request and shall assist the officer or employee as necessary in providing relevant information that is available to the city. A party seeking discovery from a nonparty officer or employee of the city shall initiate the process by serving a request for discovery on the nonparty officer or employee. Discovery from other nonparties may be initiated by serving a request for discovery on the nonparty directly. Absent a request or upon failure to obtain voluntary cooperation, discovery from a nonparty may be obtained by a written motion directed to the board or a hearing officer appointed by the board showing the relevance, scope, and materiality of the particular information sought. In addition, in the case of a deposition, the written motion shall include the date, time, and place of the proposed deposition.
(5)
The board may require that testimony introduced at hearings be recorded, but testimony shall not be transcribed except upon further order.
(6)
The board shall render its decision within 10 calendar days after the conclusion of the hearing. The decision shall forthwith be certified to the appointing authority and enforced by the appointing authority. Copies of the decision shall be delivered to all other parties at interest. The board may rescind or uphold the penalty imposed by the appointing authority as warranted by the facts adduced at the hearing.
(f)(1) The order containing the decision of the board may be appealed by either party to the Circuit Court of Shelby County.
a.
The appeal shall be perfected by filing a notice of appeal in the circuit court no later than 10 days after the release of the board’s decision.
b.
The notice shall state that the party appeals the board’s decision to the circuit court with a short statement of the reason therefor.
c.
The notice shall be accompanied by a bound transcript of the board hearing and any exhibits or with a receipt from a court reporting service as proof that the hearing is being transcribed.
d.
In the case of an appeal challenging the board’s decision to uphold the discipline of an employee, a copy of the notice of appeal shall be served on the director within one day of its filing in the circuit court.
(2)
The decision of the board shall not be stayed pending the circuit court’s decision.
(3)
The circuit court shall not reverse the order of the board unless it finds one of the following:
a.
The board’s decision was arbitrary and capricious.
b.
The board’s decision was against the great weight of the evidence.
c.
The board’s decision was the product of fraud.
d. The board’s application of the law was clearly erroneous in a case in which the board’s decision was determined by that question of law.