Career state employees in North Carolina have rights. These rights include the right to a meaningful grievance process and the right to a neutral hearing before a tribunal at the NC Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH). While a grieving careers state employees have to meet strict deadlines in the grievance process, their employer also has deadlines, including a 90 day deadline to issue a "final agency decision" (FAD) to resolve an employee grievance. 

DAC Employee Gets his Job Back

We recently represented a career employee of the Department of Adult Correction (DAC) who had been fired for off-duty allegations that he possessed cannabis ("marijuana").  He was provided with a pre-disciplinary notice and was fired for "unacceptable personal conduct." The employee pursued a grievance on their own, proceeding through all required stages and meeting crucial deadlines. These stages included:

• filing a formal grievance within 15 days of the termination
• mediation
• a hearing before a hearing officer (or panel in some agencies)

Clients Procedural Rights Violated 

Despite our client proceedings through the grievance process and satisfying every deadline, the agency failed to issue an FAD regarding his grievance. After waiting several months, the employee initiated a contested hearing at OAH, with the help of a family member. They met with, and eventually retained us for a hearing. After proceeding through the discovery process, the matter was tried in a hearing at OAH. 

We challenged the termination on both procedural and factual grounds, asserting that the facts upon which they were fired were not reliably proven, and that DAC had violated their right to a meaningful grievance process by failing to issue an FAD. 

Case Settled During Hearing

After one day of a hearing, and with a second day looming, we agreed to a settlement that led to the client getting his job back and the agency paying for his attorney fees. This was a solid win for the client. Although in some cases a prevailing employee can also obtain payment of backpay in addition to reinstatement, in this case there was enough of a risk based on the testimony in day 1 that taking a settlement that achieved the ultimate goal (getting back to work at the job they loved) was very attractive. 

We are available for consultation and representation of North Carolina career state employees. If you are a SHRA employee involved in a disciplinary or grievance matter, fill out the form on our website to initiate the consultation process. We provide a free brief attorney consultation for career state employees!