§ 54-40. Career service appeal procedure.

(a)

An appeal of disciplinary action specified in this article shall be made to the sheriff in writing and must be received by the sheriff's personnel office no later than five working days after the employee is notified of the action on which the appeal is based.

(b)

The career service appeal board shall meet for the purpose of hearing the appeal within 30 working days or as soon as practicable thereafter as determined by the board. The board, in its discretion, may grant a continuation or extension of time for good cause.

(c)

During any hearing, the employee filing the appeal shall have the right to be heard publicly and to be represented by a person of his own choice. If the employee chooses to be represented by legal counsel, it shall be at his/her own expense. Any such hearing will be conducted as informally as is compatible with justice, and both the office of sheriff and the employee will be afforded an opportunity to present their cases. During such hearings the technical rules of evidence and civil procedures shall not apply. The employee and sheriff's representative will be given the opportunity to present documentary evidence and witnesses on their behalf and to examine and cross examine witnesses. Testimony and evidence will be restricted to the charges or reasons given for the disciplinary action taken. Either party may invoke the rule of excluding witnesses from the hearing room until they are called upon to testify. During the hearing the members of the career service appeal board may direct questions to any party or witness at any time during the proceedings.

(d)

The career service appeal board shall by majority vote to dispose of the appeal by making findings of fact and determinations of just cause for disciplinary action, if any, and issuing a written decision within the time period provided by rule. Such decision shall either sustain or not sustain a finding of just cause for disciplinary action taken by the sheriff. If an action by the sheriff is not sustained by the board, the board shall offer such remedial relief as will make the employee whole by the payment of back pay, restoration of employment and pension benefits and reinstatement to the employee's former or substantially equivalent position of employment. No back pay shall be paid for any period where the employee absented himself/herself from the labor market or was otherwise unable to work or where the employee is unable to prove that he/she actively sought employment. Back pay shall not include any amount paid by unemployment compensation. In order for an employee to prove that he/she actively sought employment during the back-pay period, the employee must satisfy all eligibility requirements of F.S. ch. 443, that he/she applied for available, suitable work and accepted suitable work when offered. Registration with the state employment service and local employment agencies shall be considered as evidence of an effort to find suitable employment. Registration alone, however, will not be sufficient to demonstrate a good faith job search, but rather the employee shall provide evidence that he/she has on a weekly basis personally visited or revisited potential places of employment and has filed appropriate applications and that he/she has made appropriate other inquiries into employment possibilities and maintained contemporaneous written records of his efforts to locate employment throughout the back-pay period. The board has no authority to award attorneys' fees or compensatory, special or punitive damages.

(e)

The decision of the career service appeal board shall be final and binding on the employee and the sheriff unless a state court's jurisdiction is invoked by appeal or certiorari to review the board's action. If the court accepts jurisdiction, the board's order shall be stayed pending completion of the court proceedings. The employee shall provide and maintain a current mailing address with the sheriff's personnel office during the pending of the career service proceedings and may not refuse to cooperate in any internal investigation or to testify and must truthfully answer questions before the board. Employees may be called as adverse witnesses in all proceedings before the board. The board may impose sanctions, including dismissal of the employee's appeal with costs assessed against the employee, if he fails to cooperate or testify in the manner provided in this section or if the board determines the employee's appeal to be frivolous or without merit. An employee who seeks relief under this article shall be bound by its terms and conditions.

(f)

All time limits shall be jurisdictional and the failure of an employee to timely comply with this article shall constitute a waiver of the employee's privilege of appeal. If a failure to timely comply occurs by an employee because of an extreme hardship, the employee may request directly to the sheriff an extension of time or permission to proceed. The decision of the sheriff is discretionary and shall not be subject to review by the board or court or shall not be precedent on any other matter before the sheriff, board or court.

(Code 1970, § 15½-26; Ord. No. 90-12, § 6, 9-25-90; Ord. No. 11-17, § 2, 12-6-11)