BCPL Library Board: An Accusation of Bad Faith

22 September 2009

Ms. Elliston:

You refer to my presentation of 17 September as a hearing, but it was not the hearing I was entitled to by law, which should have taken place prior to dismissal. I had requested the hearing from Mrs. Ryle, both on the telephone, and at the email address she provided me, while still an employee, and her statement merely proves that this is not the required hearing, which should have been requested by Cindy Brown within thirty-five days of my initial contact with her. That hearing did not take place, due to the Library's negligence. The meeting of 17 September was a hearing only in a formal sense e.g., "Administrative law. Any setting in which an affected person presents arguments to an agency decision-maker." (Black's Law, ed. 8. p. 737) However, it was not a hearing to settle the dipute with my supervisor, as set forth in the employee handbook.

If further evidence that this was not the hearing to which I was entitled were needed, Ms. Southard's e-mail invitation on 16 September referred to the session as a "presentation", and says nothing about a hearing. I would have prepared quite differently in such a case, and would certainly have protested the ten-minute limit, as well as the short amount of time in which I had to prepare for it. I read a statement which ended with a plea for a hearing in accordance with the employee manual and public policy. If the Board considered my address to be the hearing, they were obligated to apprise me of that during the session.

Your claim that this was the hearing to which I was entitled, to make it appear that the Board had fufilled its obligation, could be construed as evidence of bad faith in any further proceedings. Good faith is "absence of intent to defraud or to seek unconscionable advantage." (Black's Law, ed. 8. p. 713) I certainly understood this as a chance to request a hearing to resolve the dispute on a work-related issue, and used the time to present relevant information, and request such a hearing be granted.

It appears from the several interruptions of Mrs. Ryle indicating that my prepared statement was irrelevant, and the sarcastic remarks of Ms. Goetting at the end, showing her displeasure with my even being there, it may be impossible for me to get a fair hearing from this Board, and that the offer itself was made in bad faith. As you may be aware, good faith is the standard of public policy.

I am requesting a copy of the written statement read by Ms. Southard after my presentation.

Sincerely,

James Duvall, M. A.

BCPL "Employee Handbook" — Page 2-18: Employee Dispute Resolution

BOONE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICT
PERSONNEL MANUAL

2. EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES

DISPUTE RESOLUTION

A. All employees are entitled to timely review of employee disputes. A dispute is considered to be any conflict between an employee and the library that affects an employee’s ability to do his or her job. Purely personal matters between employees would not ordinarily be subject to the dispute resolution procedure. The dispute resolution procedure encourages the informal resolution of disputes.

B. PROCEDURE

1. To encourage informal resolution, the employee should bring the dispute to the attention of his/her supervisor. No written form is required. The supervisor and employee will discuss the dispute and determine a plan to resolve it. The dispute should be raised within thirty days following the event/circumstances leading to it.

2. If Step 1 is not successful or if the dispute is with the employee’s supervisor, a written statement of the dispute should be submitted to the Director. The Director will meet with the staff members involved to discuss the dispute and determine a plan to resolve it. This step should be initiated no more than thirty-five days following the event/circumstances.

3. If no mutuallyacceptable resolution is reached in Steps 1 or 2, a copy of the written statement and a written report from the Director will be submitted to the Board of Trustees. A hearing will be granted to the employee at the next regularly scheduled Board meeting or a special meeting may be called. Within one week of the meeting, the Board will notify in writing the Director and all parties involved of its decision.

12/86
Revised 8/92
Revised 10/99
Reviewed 6/07

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