Principles for Public Safety Employment

 Object to the form of the Accusation on the ground that it is so indefinite or uncertain that the respondent cannot identify the transaction or prepare a defense;  Admit the Accusation in whole or in part;  Present new matter by way of defense; and/or  Object to the Accusation on the ground that, under the circumstances, compliance with the requirements of a regulation would result in a material violation of another regulation enacted by another department affecting substantive rights. 295 Within the 15 day timeframe, the firefighter may file one or more notices of defense based on any or all of these grounds. Any notice of defense filed late will be invalid unless the agency has authorized the filing of a later notice. 296 The Notice of Defense entitles the firefighter to a hearing on the merits, and the Notice shall be deemed a specific denial of all parts of the Accusation unless there is an express admission. 297 In addition, all objections to the form of the Accusation must be made in a timely filed Notice of Defense or they are waived. 298 v. Amended or Supplemental Accusation At any time before the case is submitted for decision, the agency may file an amended or supplemental Accusation. 299 All parties must be notified of the amended or supplemental Accusation. 300 If the amended or supplemental Accusation presents new charges, the agency must give the firefighter a reasonable opportunity to prepare his or her defense, but the firefighter is not entitled to file an additional Notice of Defense unless the agency orders it. 301 Any new charges shall be deemed disputed, and any objections to the amended or supplemental Accusation may be made orally and shall be noted in the record. 302 Agencies should make every effort to ensure that the original Accusation is complete and accurate because the statute of limitations will still apply and the agency may be barred from raising new charges in an amended or supplemental Accusation if they are past the one-year period. c. Alternate Dispute Resolution The APA procedures also allow the parties to agree to use the following alternate dispute procedures: mediation; non-binding arbitration by a neutral arbitrator that is final unless either party requests a formal hearing de novo; or binding arbitration by a neutral arbitrator. 303 The California Code of Regulations contains rules that address: the standards of conduct for arbitrators; the selection of arbitrators; discovery; pre-arbitration conference; statements before the arbitrator; attendance at the arbitration; and authority of arbitrators. 304 d. Agencies with Binding Arbitration Section 3254.5 was amended to provide that an agency that has a negotiated binding arbitration appeal procedure for firefighters in a memorandum of understanding, the arbitrator or arbitration panel selected pursuant to that procedure can preside over the hearing in place of an

Principles for Public Safety Employment ©2022 (s) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 96