Amendments to Grievance Process
Amended April 2016

​Processing of Grievances 

The chapter will have one Chief Grievance Officer/Contract Administrator elected by the members. His/her task will include contact with the University administrator responsible for enforcement of the Agreement, filing of grievances, preparation of briefs for arbitration, contact with chapter counsel and the training of the Assistant Grievance officer and the Grievance Liaisons.

In addition to the elected Chief Grievance Officer the executive committee will appoint an Assistant Grievance Officer whose role will be to share the grievance workload with the Chief Grievance Officer and to provide representation to a grievant whenever the Chief Grievance Officer is unable to provide that representation for any reason.  The Executive Committee shall endeavor to appoint a Grievance Liaison for each faculty unit (i.e. Arts and Sciences, Library. Athletic Staff, School of Fine and Performing Arts, etc.).  Grievance liaisons will be trained in grievance intake work and will be familiar with the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Grievance Liaisons will normally be the first contact point for complaints of possible contract violations and for general information about the Agreement. 

Interviewing the Complainant

A Grievance Liaison will interview the complainant in order to determine whether or not a potential grievance exists.  In this initial interview the facts as presented by the grievant should be taken at face value.  The question to be resolved at this point is if the facts are as presented by the complainant, would there be a violation of the Agreement.  The liaison may need to consult with the Chief Grievance officer in making this determination.  If in the judgment of the liaison there is no contract violation, given the facts as presented, he/she should inform the complainant of the lack of violation as quickly as possible.  (If the complainant does not agree with the liaison’s judgment, he/she will be referred to the Chief Grievance Officer who will carry out an independent review of the case and make a determination. If the Chief Grievance officer agrees with the liaison the complainant will be given the opportunity to present his/her views to the Executive Committee (either in writing and/or in person as they choose). The complainant/grievant may also elect to be accompanied by an advocate, chosen from the membership of the chapter, to represent his/her interests. The Executive Committee will then make a final decision as to whether or not to proceed further with the complaint.) If the liaison believes that if the facts as stated are true there would be a violation, he/she will initiate an investigation.

Investigation

Except In cases where time is of the essence or where the issues involve the potential for serious discipline or raise particularly complex questions of contractual interpretation the liaison will carry out an investigation prior to turning the file over to the Chief Grievance Officer..  Such an investigation may involve asking the complainant for supporting documentation, interviewing witnesses, taking written statements, requesting information from the University, reviewing personnel files, etc. The liaison will consult with the Chief Grievance Officer during this investigation for direction, advise etc.  After collecting the available data the liaison will turn the file over to the Chief Grievance Officer (who may then assign the case to the Assistant Grievance Office) who will file a grievance if he/she believes that there is sufficient evidence to support the grievance or if he/she finds it necessary to file a grievance in order to gain access to necessary information.  At this stage the benefit of the doubt should always be given to the grievant. If the Chief Grievance Officer (or the Assistant Grievance Officer when the case has been so assigned) believes that there is insufficient evidence to file a grievance, he/she will so inform the complainant. If the complainant disagrees with this judgment, both the complainant and the Grievance Officer will be given the opportunity to present their views to the Executive Committee (either in person and/or in writing as they choose). The complainant/grievant may also elect to be accompanied by an advocate, chosen from the membership of the chapter, to represent his/her interests. The Executive Committee will then make a final decision as to whether or not to file a formal grievance.

Filing the Grievance

The Chief Grievance Officer/Assistant Grievance Officer, having determined that it is likely a violation of the Agreement has occurred, is authorized to file a grievance.  The Grievance Officer will inform the President (or Vice President in the President's absence) of the filing of new grievances.  The Grievance Officer will also explain to the grievant that all grievances under our Agreement belong to the AAUP and all decisions on how to proceed and when to settle will ultimately rest with the AAUP Executive Committee.   The Grievance Officers will report on the progress of all on-going investigations, complaints and grievances to the Executive Committee at its regularly scheduled monthly meeting. He/she will also keep the grievant informed on the progress of the grievance.

Grievance Hearing and Offers of Settlement

The assigned Grievance Officer, working with the grievant and legal, counsel will prepare and present the case at any internal grievance hearing.  During this period the Grievance Officer in consultation with the grievant may make offers of settlement to the University or consider such offers from the University.  If the Grievance Officer believes a reasonable offer of settlement is on the table, he/she will recommend its acceptance to the Executive Committee.  If the grievant does not agree with the Grievance Officer’s recommendation, both the Grievance Officer and the grievant will be given the opportunity to present their views to the Executive Committee (either in person and/or writing as they choose). The complainant/grievant may also elect to be accompanied by an advocate, chosen from the membership of the chapter, to represent his/her interests at this meeting. The Executive Committee will then make the final decision as to whether or not to accept the offer of settlement.

Arbitration

If no settlement can be reached through the internal process, the assigned Grievance Officer will make a recommendation to the Executive Committee on whether or not to proceed to arbitration.  In making this recommendation the Grievance Officer will consult with the grievant and outside counsel.  The Grievance Officer should weigh the seriousness of the violation; the type of remedy likely to be awarded by an arbitrator if the grievance is successful; the types of precedents that will be set if the arbitration is lost; and the cost of the arbitration in making his/her recommendation.  If the grievant does not agree with the Grievance Officer's recommendation, both the Grievance Officer and the grievant will be given the opportunity to present their views to the Executive Committee (either in person and/or in writing as they choose). The complainant/grievant may also elect to be accompanied by an advocate, to be chosen from the membership of the chapter, to represent his/her interests at this meeting. The Executive Committee will then make the final decision as to whether or not to proceed to arbitration.

If the Executive Committee votes to proceed to Arbitration, the assigned Grievance Officer working with counsel will prepare the case to be presented.  Depending on the complexity of the case and the gravity of the issues at stake, the Grievance Officer may rely more or less heavily on counsel.  If the Grievance Officer feels that the interest of the AAUP is best served by having counsel prepare and present the case, he/she will so inform the Executive Committee during its deliberation on whether or not to arbitrate. The Executive Committee must approve any offer of settlement prior to the arbitrator’s award. If the grievant disagrees with the Grievance Officer’s recommendation as to whether or not to accept an offer of settlement prior to an arbitrator’s award, both the Grievance Officer and the grievant will be given the opportunity to present their views to the Executive Committee (either in person and/or in writing as they choose). The complainant/grievant may also elect to be accompanied by an advocate, chosen from the membership of the chapter, to represent his/her interests at this meeting.  The Executive Committee will then make the final decision as to whether or not to accept an offer of settlement.

Exceptions to the Above

Expedited Arbitration

In cases where the assigned Grievance Officer believes that delaying will lead to irreparable harm to the interests of a member, the unit as a whole or the AAUP he/she is authorized to file under the Expedited Arbitration clause of the Agreement.  This clause moves the grievance directly to arbitration and halts any action by the University for forty-five (45) days.  The Grievance Officer will immediately notify the President (or Vice President in the President's absence) of his/her decision and will inform the Executive Committee at the earliest possible date.  Prior to the arbitration hearing the Grievance Officer will carry out an investigation and will make a recommendation to the Executive Committee on whether or not to withdraw the grievance.  In making this recommendation he/she will weigh the same issues that he/she would weigh in making a recommendation to move to arbitration after an internal hearing.  The Grievance Officer will also attempt to reach settlement with the University prior to arbitration, as he/she would do in any arbitration case. If the grievant disagrees with the Grievance Officer’s recommendation, both the Grievance Officer and the grievant will be given the opportunity to present their views to the Executive Committee (either in person and/or in writing as they choose).The complainant/grievant may also elect to be accompanied by an advocate, chosen from the membership of the chapter, to represent his/her interests at this meeting. The Executive Committee will then make the final decision as to whether or not to proceed to arbitration or to accept an offer of settlement.

Conflicts of Interest

In cases where a liaison believes that he/she has compelling professional or personal obligations or financial interests that would make it difficult for him/her to meet the duty of fair representation to a complainant/grievant or to the bargaining unit as a whole, he/she will immediately inform the Chief Grievance Officer who will assign the case to another liaison, or to the Assistant Grievance Officer or handle it him/her self. In cases where the Chief Grievance Officer, believes that he/she has compelling professional or personal obligations, or financial interests that would make it difficult for him/her to meet the duty of fair representation to a complainant/grievant or to the bargaining unit as a whole, or might give rise to the appearance of such a conflict he/she will immediately inform the Assistant Grievance Officer who will provide representation to the complainant. The Assistant Grievance officer will act in all ways as the Chief Grievance Officer would have acted if he/she were handling the case including having full access to the chapter’s legal counsel for help and support in pursuing the case. The Chief Grievance Officer will recuse him/herself from the case, and will neither provide advice nor counsel to the Assistant Grievance Officer nor vote as a member of the Executive Committee on the case, The rights of the grievant to appeal to the Executive Committee shall be the same as when a case is handled by the Chief Grievance Officer.


If a complainant/grievant or any member of the Executive Committee believes that the Chief Grievance Officer cannot meet his/her duty of fair representation, he/she will so inform the Chief Grievance Officer and ask him/her to recuse him/herself from the case. If the Chief Grievance Officer does not agree, he/she will immediately inform the President (or the Vice-President in the President’s absence). The President (or Vice-President) will convene, within five working days, an emergency meeting of the Executive Committee to determine whether or not to remove the Chief Grievance Officer from the handling of this particular complainant/grievance. At this hearing, the individual raising the objection, the Chief Grievance Officer and the complainant/grievant (if he/she is not the individual raising the objection) shall be given the opportunity to present his/her views to the Executive Committee (either in person and or in writing as he/she chooses). The complainant/grievant may also elect to be accompanied by an advocate, chosen from the membership of the chapter, to represent his/her interests at this meeting. The Executive Committee shall be free to consult with legal counsel on the issues raised by the objection but shall then make the final decision as to whether or not the complaint/grievance shall be handled by the Assistant Grievance Officer. If the Executive Committee removes the Chief Grievance Officer from the handling of this particular complaint/grievance, the Assistant Grievance officer will provide representation as in the paragraph above. If the Assistant Grievance officer is unable to provide representation The President (or Vice-President) will as quickly as possible and without any involvement by the Assistant Grievance Officer arrange for fair alternate representation for the complainant/grievant. Such alternate representative will act in all ways as the Chief Grievance Officer would have acted if he/she were handling the case including having full access to the chapter’s legal counsel for help and support in pursuing the case. If such alternate representation cannot be quickly supplied from within the unit, the Rider University Chapter AAUP’s legal counsel, with the approval of the Executive Committee, will be assigned to handle the case until such time as alternate representation can be provided.