Grievance Procedures

Any act of retaliation including, but not limited to, interference, restraints, penalty, discrimination, coercion, or harassment, overtly or covertly, against an employee for using the grievance procedure interferes with the integrity of the grievance procedure. Accordingly, anyone who commits an act of retaliation against anyone involved in the grievance procedure subjects themselves to appropriate corrective actions.

The grievance resolution procedure is a two-step process wherein the first step the dispute is resolved informally with the intervention of the Director/Associate Dean of the Office of Postdoctoral Education. If the grievance is not resolved to the Grievant’s satisfaction, the process of filing a formal grievance will be initiated upon the Grievant’s request.

No adverse action may be taken against the postdoctoral scholar for their legitimate use of the grievance procedure. At any point in the grievance process, formal proceedings can be put aside in favor of voluntary mediation. For this to occur, both parties to the dispute must agree to participate in mediation.

The following are the steps in the Grievance Resolution Procedure:

1. The Grievant first reports the basis for their dispute, written or orally, to the Director/Associate Dean of the Office of Postdoctoral Education.  The Director/Associate Dean shall have reasonable opportunity to resolve the dispute informally. They will inform the Respondent of the complaint and give the option to both parties for mutual resolution of the complaints with the Director/Associate Dean acting as an intermediary or through the UNMC Ombudsperson’s Office.
2. If the Director/Associate Dean’s effort to resolve the dispute informally is unsuccessful, they will notify the Postdoctoral Scholar of their right to initiate a formal grievance by providing a written statement to the Director/Associate Dean.
3. After having determined that the facts stated by the Postdoctoral Scholar may be grieved, the Director/Associate Dean shall notify the Respondent to provide response to the complaint(s) within 5 working days. 
4. Following the receipt of the statement from the Respondent, the Director/Associate Dean will select a committee of 3 faculty and 2 postdoctoral scholars who have no prior knowledge of the dispute/grievance. 
5. The Grievance Committee should chose a chairperson and then notify the Grievant and Respondent of the date and time of the hearing, no sooner than five working days from the notification. 
6. Each party can provide supporting witnesses, if any, provided a brief statement describing what information each witness has regarding the grievance has been submitted to the committee. Only those witnesses whom the committee deems has  first-hand knowledge of the facts related to the resolution of the issue(s) grieved will be considered. 
7. The Grievant may be accompanied by an advisor of their choosing who will afford moral support and act as an observer/advisor. The advisor may not participate in the hearing.  Prior to the hearing, the Grievant should inform the Director/Associate  Dean who will be attending. 
8. The hearing will be confidential and only those persons the committee determines to be necessary will be present.   The Grievant, the Grievant’s advisor, if any, and the Respondent may be present throughout the hearing. A witness will be included in the hearing only when testifying. No more than one witness will be called to testify at a time. All questioning of a witness will be by the committee unless the committee decides otherwise. 
9. The Grievant will be given reasonable time and opportunity to present the grievance, to rebut adverse evidence, and to present a closing statement. Similar opportunity will be afforded to the respondent. 
10. The hearing procedure should include the following:
    1. Call to order by the Chair
    2. Introduction of those present
    3. Statement of the issue(s) grieved 
    4. Presentation of evidence and testimony in support of the issue(s) grieved
    5. Questioning of the Grievant’s witnesses 
    6. Presentation of evidence and testimony by the Respondent 
    7. Questioning of the Respondent’s witnesses 
    8. Closing statements 
11. The committee will meet in private and provide a brief narrative statement explaining its findings and a summary of the supporting facts. The committee’s written decision shall be transmitted to the Director/Associate Dean. 
12. The Director/Associate Dean will notify the Grievant and Respondent of the committee’s decision and any action to be taken as a result of the committee’s finding. 
13. The Director/Associate Dean should inform the Grievant of their right to appeal to the Dean of the Graduate School in case of an adverse outcome or dissatisfaction. An appeal to the Dean will be limited to the presentation of new, previously unavailable evidence and/or identification of procedural error in the hearing process. The decision of the Dean will be final.