Common use of Hearing Administration Clause in Contracts

Hearing Administration. 1) All arbitration hearings shall be closed to the public unless the employee requests, in writing, no later than five (5) calendar days before the hearing, that the hearing be open. 2) Subpoenas (no subpoenas duces tecum) shall be issued by the arbitrator at the request of either party. State civil rules governing the issuance and validity of subpoenas shall also govern the issuance and validity of subpoenas issued herein. 3) The hearing need not be conducted in accordance with technical rules relating to evidence and witnesses. Any relevant evidence shall be admitted if it is the sort of evidence on which reasonable persons are accustomed to rely on in the conduct of serious affairs, regardless of the existence of any common law or statutory rules which might make improper the admission of such evidence over objection in civil actions. Hearsay evidence may be used for the purpose of supplementing or explaining any direct evidence but shall not be sufficient in itself to support a finding unless it would be admissible over objection in civil actions. The rules of privilege shall be effective to the same extent that they are now or hereafter may be recognized in civil and criminal actions. Irrelevant and unduly repetitious evidence shall be excluded. 4) The hearing shall proceed in the following order: (a) The department imposing discipline shall be permitted to make an opening statement. (b) The appealing party shall then be permitted to make an opening statement. (c) The department imposing disciplinary action shall produce the evidence on its behalf. (d) The party appealing from such disciplinary action may then offer his/her defense and offer his/her evidence in support thereof; the employee bears the burden of proof and the burden of producing evidence for any affirmative defenses asserted. (e) The parties may then, in the above order, respectively offer rebutting evidence, unless the arbitrator for good cause, permits them to reopen and offer evidence in their case in chief. (f) Oral closing arguments shall be permitted. Written briefs may be permitted at the discretion of the arbitrator. The department shall have the right to open the oral closing arguments followed by the employee. The department shall then have the right to reply. (g) The orders of presentation and burdens of proof shall be reversed in those cases where non-disciplinary grievances are heard.