Complaint and Grievance Policy

Adopted by the Board of Regents on December 8, 2000

1.         General Policy

a. Although Texas Southern University is an at-will employer, it seeks fair, just, and prompt solutions, when possible, to the complaints and grievances of nonfaculty employees arising from the employment relationship with the University. In instances in which a problem cannot be resolved through informal discussion with the immediate supervisor, the employee may present a complaint or grievance in accordance with this procedure. Employees should feel free to present complaints or grievances without fear of retribution.

b. This procedure is applicable to complaints and grievances related to the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, discrimination, and other employee concerns.

c. Employees should make every effort to resolve applicable employment concerns through the procedure herein. However, the filing of a complaint or grievance will not affect the ability of the University to pursue employee discipline or termination procedures.

d. All complaint or grievance investigations and procedures will be nonadversarial in nature. Aggrieved employees may represent themselves individually through legal counsel or through a representative.

e. Only one subject matter may be covered in any one written grievance or complaint procedure. The written complaint or grievance should contain a clear and concise statement of the complaint or grievance which refers to the applicable policy that is alleged to have been violated, the date the incident took place, the issue involved, the specific resolution sought by the employee and additional relevant information to be considered in support of the complaint or grievance. A form prepared by the Human Resources Department must be used to submit a complaint or grievance in writing. Once a complaint or grievance has been submitted in writing, it may not be changed or amended without mutual consent of the University and the employee.

f. The Director of Human Resources, upon request, will provide advisory assistance to the complainant/grievant or management by explaining this complaint and grievance procedure.

g. The complaint or grievance process will end at the earliest step that resolution is reached.

h. Employees may use annual leave, compensatory leave, or leave without pay, subject to established University operating policies and procedures, to engage in this activity.

i. If an employee separates from employment with the University for any reason other than dismissal based upon allegations of discrimination, pending complaints or grievances are dismissed.

j. If an employee is dismissed and believes such action was taken for reasons prohibited by law, the employee has ten days from receipt of such dismissal notice to appeal to the Director of Human Resources. Otherwise, the dismissal cannot be grieved.

2.        Complaints

A complaint is an employee's formal expression of disagreement arising from or relating to, but not limited to:

• wages,
• hours,
• working conditions,
• performance evaluations,
• merit raises,
• interpretation of official University personnel or administrative policies applied to the grievant,
• oral or written reprimands, and/or
• job assignments or similar matters involving management decisions concerning the complainant.

Most problems or complaints can be resolved through discussions between the employee and the immediate supervisor. If this does not produce a satisfactory result, the employee may present a complaint under the provisions of this policy. 

Steps for processing a complaint are as follows:

a. Step One        

Employees having a complaint arising from a work-related incident should first discuss the complaint with the immediate supervisor within five working days of the incident causing the complaint.

b. Step Two

If no resolution is reached with the immediate supervisor, employees may appeal to the second level supervisor by submitting a written complaint for consideration and action within five working days from the date of the decision of the immediate supervisor or the final meeting with the immediate supervisor. The second level supervisor will review the complaint with the department head or equivalent and then will respond to the employee in writing within five working days from receipt of the written complaint. A copy of the response will be sent to the Director of Human Resources, the employee, and the immediate supervisor.

c. Step Three

If satisfactory resolution is not reached in Step Two, employees may appeal to the Director of Human Resources by submitting a written appeal within five working days of receiving the written response from the second level supervisor. The Director will meet with the parties to the complaint within five working days of receipt of the appeal, and investigate and review the complaint. The Director will submit a written finding to the department head or equivalent and the employee. The finding of the Director is final.

d. Failure of any administrator to respond within the designated time periods shall not be deemed as either acceptance or denial of a complaint.

3.         Grievances

A grievance is an employee's formal expression of disagreement arising from or relating to:

• allegations of discrimination,
• demotion,
• decrease in salary, and/or
• suspension without pay.

Employee terminations cannot be grieved unless the grievant believes the action was taken for reasons prohibited by law and submits a completed grievance form to the Director of Human Resources within ten days of receipt of such dismissal notice.

a. Step One

Employees having a grievance arising from a work-related incident should submit the grievance in writing to the Director of Human Resources within ten working days from the date of the action causing the grievance. The Director will investigate and review the grievance and file a written response to the department head or equivalent representative and the employee. The finding of the Director is final for student, temporary, and other nonregular employees.

b. Step Two

If satisfactory resolution is not reached in Step One, regular employees may make a written request to the Director of Human Resources within five working days of receiving the written response from the Director to have the grievance heard by a Grievance Review Board (Board).

If a regular employee appeals a grievance to the Board, the grievance(s) to be reviewed by the Board must be concisely stated. Regular employees may seek help in the completion of the grievance statement from the Director of Human Resources. A regular employee may have more than one grievance pending for Board review; however, all unresolved issues will be joined and heard simultaneously by the same Board.

c. Step Three

Upon the filing of a proper grievance, the Director of Human Resources will appoint a Grievance Review Board consisting of five members and seven alternate members to hear the pending grievance(s) of the employee within five working days following the date of receipt of the request.

The Director of Personnel will select six regular classified employees and six regular professional and administrative employees at random to serve on the Grievance Review Board and/or as alternates. Selection for the Board and alternates will be made randomly. All ranks of regular classified, professional and administrative employees with one or more year(s) of service are eligible to serve on the Board with the exception of the following:

(1) employees from the department where the grievant is employed;
(2) the President and employees reporting directly to the President;
(3) Vice presidents and employees reporting directly to a vice president;
(4) General counsel and employees serving on the staff of the general counsel;
(5) the Director of Human Resources as well as Department of Human Resources employees.

The prospective Board members and alternates will be notified as soon as the selections have been made. Prospective members and/or alternates of the Board will have five working days after receipt of the names to disqualify themselves from participation in any matter in which they feel it would be inappropriate to serve or in the event of a schedule conflict by written notice to the Director of Human Resources. In such case, the regular member will be replaced by the next alternate member by the Director of Human Resources.

All time spent by Board members and/or alternates in matters related to this grievance policy will be treated as work time and employees are expected to be relieved of their normal duties to permit service on Boards as necessary.

The names of the members and alternates agreeing to serve on the Board will be furnished to the grievant and to the department head. The grievant and the department head will have five working days after receipt of the names to request removal of not more than two members of the prospective Board and/or alternates by written notice to the Director of Human Resources. The grievant and the department head made the subject of the grievance may not contact prospective Board members prior to the formal convening of the Board.

Should the above procedures fail to seat a Board of five employees, the Board members seated will be retained and the process repeated until a full Board of five employees is seated. The final list of members and alternates of the Board will be provided to the grievant, department head, Board members, and alternates.

The grievant will have five working days after receipt of the names of the members of the Board and alternates to provide in writing to the Director of Human Resources the name of any representative of the grievant and the name(s) of any witnesses to be called by the grievant.

d. Step Four

After the Board is constituted and the hearing date scheduled, the Board will convene and hear the grievance. If the grievant is represented by legal counsel or any other representative, the University will be represented by the Office of General Counsel. The Board will select a moderator who will preside over the hearing. The hearing will be closed to the public at the request of either party or the Board.

The following individuals will be permitted to attend a closed hearing:

(1) Grievance Review Board members;
(2) the grievant and a representative of the grievant;
(3) the employee's immediate supervisor, or the employee's department head, and;
(4) a representative of the Office of General Counsel. The representative of the OGC is permitted to attend the hearing whether or not the grievant is represented by legal counsel, however, OGC will not act as a representative of the University unless the grievant also has counsel present.

The hearing will consist of opening statements, if desired, by the grievant and the institution or their representative, testimony by witnesses called by the grievant and the institution with both parties and the Board having the right to question witnesses, and introduction of relevant exhibits which either party seeks to present to the Board. The grievant will have the responsibility of presenting relevant facts and circumstances to establish the validity of the grievance. Formal rules of evidence will not apply to the hearing. The proceeding will be nonadversarial in nature.

Either party may request in writing at least ten working days prior to the hearing that the presentation be tape recorded. Both grievant and the University may obtain a copy of the tape at the expense of the University. 

At the conclusion of the testimony, both parties will be permitted to make a closing statement. Following the hearing, the Board will retire to deliberate and will submit a written report of its recommendations to the appropriate vice president within ten working days following the conclusion of the Board hearing.

e. Step Five

Within five working days following receipt of the recommendation of the Board, the appropriate vice president will make a written response to the grievant. The decision of the vice president is final, except in cases of employees who report directly to a vice president. In these cases, the final level appeal will be the President. The same ten working day time limits will apply.

All time limits set forth in this policy may be extended once by each party with the mutual consent of the parties involved. Failure of supervisory or administrative personnel to respond to a grievance within established time limits will constitute authorization for the employee to process the grievance to the next step, but shall not be an affirmative finding on the issue(s).

4.         Abandonment of Complaint or Grievance

The following acts on the part of the employee may constitute abandonment of a complaint:

a. failing to respond or take an action required by the procedure within the specified time limit.

b. failing to appear for a scheduled meeting without adequate cause; or

c. otherwise failing to advance the complaint in a timely manner, as determined by the human resources officer.

The Director of Human Resources may unilaterally declare a complaint to be abandoned and close the file, or may undertake a review of the status of the complaint upon request of the department head. No further action or appeal will be allowed following such determination of abandonment and closure of the file.

5.         Right to Change Policy

The University reserves the right to interpret, change, modify, amend, or rescind this policy in whole or in part at any time without the consent of employees. In the event of a contradiction between the terms of this policy and any statement made by a University agent or employee, the terms of this policy shall control all cases.