§ 1:907. Discipline.

A.

Constitutional and other protections. Neither this section nor any part of the this chapter is intended to deny or otherwise limit a regular employee's right to a pretermination hearing or to any other due process protections guaranteed the employee under the United States and Louisiana Constitutions, or to any appeal rights available to the employee under the applicable civil service system.

B.

General. Violation of any provision of this chapter shall be considered: An act to the prejudice of the classified service, or an act which otherwise subjects an employee to removal from the service for the reasons set forth in Section 1 of Rule X of the Civil Service Rules; and

C.

Classification of violations. Violations of this chapter shall be of two degrees, Class I or Class II, with Class I being the most serious. The classification of a violation has been made by considering the extent to which the violation impairs the orderly and efficient operation of the public service, and the probability that a violating employee can be successfully rehabilitated.

D.

Class I.

1.

An employee commits a class I violation of this chapter when the employee:

a.

Unlawfully manufactures, distributes, dispenses, possesses, or uses any drug in the city-parish workplace in violation of subsection 1:903.A. of this chapter;

b.

Consumes or possesses alcohol in the city-parish workplace in violation of subsection 1:903.B. of this chapter;

c.

Is convicted of a violation of any criminal drug or alcohol law under the circumstances defined in subsection 1:903.D.1. of this chapter;

d.

Refuses to submit to a drug test or alcohol test or otherwise violates subsection 1:903.E. of this chapter;

e.

Interferes with any procedures associated with a drug test or alcohol test in violation of subsection 1:903.F. of this chapter;

f.

Fails to report a conviction or arrest under any criminal drug or alcohol law as required by subsection 1:903.D of this chapter and such failure constitutes the third incident of failing to report under this chapter;

g.

Fails to report a serious incident as required by subsection 1:905.D.1. of this chapter and such failure constitutes the third incident of failing to report under this chapter;

h.

Works or reports for city-parish work under the influence of any drug in violation of subsection 1:903.C. of this chapter;

i.

Reports for work or performs work with a sufficient amount of anabolic steroids, marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, opiates or phencyclidine, or metabolites of these classes of drugs, in his or her urine to result in a positive test in violation of subsection 1.903.C. of this chapter.

2.

An employee who commits a class I violation shall be dismissed from city-parish employment.

E.

Class II.

1.

An employee commits a Class II violation of this chapter when the employee:

a.

Works or reports for city-parish work under the influence of alcohol in violation of subsection 1:903.C. of this chapter.

b.

Is convicted of a violation of any criminal drug or alcohol law when the conviction arises out of a violation which did not occur in the city-parish workplace and/or in a city-parish vehicle is the first such violation and the employee is considered safety or security-sensitive herein.

c.

Fails to report a conviction or arrest under any criminal drug or alcohol law as required by subsection 1:903.D.2. of this chapter and such failure constitutes the second incident of failing to report under this chapter;

d.

Fails to report a serious incident as required by subsection 1:905.D.1. of this chapter and such failure constitutes the second incident of failing to report under this chapter;

e.

Reports for work or performs work with a sufficient amount of alcohol in his or her blood, to result in a positive test in violation of subsection 1:903.C.1. or 2. of this chapter;

f.

Fails to report a conviction or arrest under any criminal drug or alcohol law as required by subsection 1:903.D.2. of this chapter and such failure constitutes the first incident of failing to report under this chapter;

g.

Fails to report a serious incident as required by subsection 1:905.D.1. of this chapter and such failure constitutes the first incident of failing to report under this chapter;

2.

An employee who commits a class II violation, except an employee who commits a violation of subsections 1.f. and 1.g. above, shall enter into a rehabilitation agreement in accordance with subsections 1:907.F.3. and 1:907.G. of this chapter. If such an employee refuses to enter into a rehabilitation agreement, the employee shall be dismissed.

3.

An employee who commits a class II violation as described in subsections 1.c. and 1.d. above shall receive a suspension of one month without pay, in addition to entering into a rehabilitation agreement.

4.

An employee who commits a class II violation as described in subsections 1.f. and 1.g. above shall receive a suspension of two (2) weeks without pay, and shall not be required to enter into a rehabilitation agreement.

5.

The city-parish may refuse to allow an employee to enter into a rehabilitation agreement and dismiss the employee if:

a.

The employee is a probationary, seasonal, or temporary employee;

b.

The alcohol test arose out of circumstances in which the employee committed other violations of this chapter;

c.

The alcohol test arose out of the violation of any work or safety rule that alone would be cause for discharge;

d.

The employee's prior disciplinary record indicates that according to existing city-parish disciplinary procedures, any further infractions would have resulted in discharge;

e.

The employee has already entered into a rehabilitation agreement arising out of city-parish employment.

F.

Rehabilitation agreement.

1.

In this rehabilitation agreement, the employee shall:

a.

Agree to participate in a rehabilitation program under such terms and conditions as the city-parish may require;

b.

Agree to submit to future testing at the city-parish's discretion as part of a monitoring program for a period not to exceed thirty-six (36) months from the date of return to duty after evaluation, on the condition that a second positive test, a test that reveals the presence of alcohol, or any other violation of the chapter will result in the employee's discharge from employment with the city-parish; and

c.

Agree to all other terms and conditions, that the city-parish may determine are necessary to accomplish completely the purposes of this chapter.

2.

The rehabilitation agreement shall be executed before a notary public and two witnesses.

3.

If the employee violates any of the terms of the rehabilitation agreement, he or she will be discharged.

4.

An employee shall be permitted to enter into only one rehabilitation agreement during all city-parish employment.

5.

An employee who enters into a rehabilitation agreement shall not thereafter be permitted to return to work until such time as a physician or other health care provider acceptable to the MRO for the city-parish has evaluated the employee and certified that the employee has obtained rehabilitation or treatment (which is acceptable to the MRO) and is fit to return to the performance of the regular duties of his or her classification. The city-parish shall be under no duty to transfer the employee to a different position or otherwise to provide work for the employee during this period.

6.

The employee may use any accrued vacation, sick leave, or compensatory time during the time he or she is not permitted to return to work; however, the employee shall be placed on leave without pay if all such leave or compensatory time is exhausted during this period and if the employee is eligible for leave without pay under the personnel rules and regulations.

G.

Appeal of positive test.

1.

If an appeal to the appropriate civil service board includes a positive test for drugs or alcohol, the city-parish may introduce a written report of the results of the test if:

a.

A notice of the report is filed with the appropriate civil service board and mailed to all parties twenty (20) days prior to the hearing date;

b.

Verified documentation of the chain of custody is submitted with the expert's report with an affidavit that states the documentation was made at or near the time of the chain of custody in the course of regularly conducted business activity;

c.

An employee may challenge the testing procedure and/or chain of custody by giving notice ten days from receipt of the above referenced documents to the city-parish and the civil service board. At the next scheduled hearing the civil service board will review the challenge and decide if it is necessary to have a full hearing on the validity and/or chain of custody of the drug or alcohol test results; and

d.

If the board finds that there is a procedural error in the administration of the test, the board may deny admissibility of the test. If there is no challenge to the testing procedure or if the board finds that there is no procedural error in the testing procedure the certified report and affidavits will be admitted into evidence at the hearing as prima facie proof of its contents, provided that the party against whom the report is sought to be used may summon and examine those making the original of the report as witnesses under cross examination.

2.

The employee may overcome this presumption of regularity by providing a preponderance of proof that the collection, shipping, testing, and medical review officer procedures contain irregularities. The board may order a full hearing on the validity of the documents if it deems necessary.

H.

Second positive test. If an employee who has entered into a rehabilitation agreement subsequently tests positive and is discharged from employment with the city-parish because of such second positive test, the regularity of the positive test that led to the rehabilitation agreement shall not be at issue in any appeal from the discharge. The regularity of the second positive test may be established or challenged in the same manner as set forth in subsection G.1. of this section.

I.

Conviction. A city-parish employee who is dismissed from city-parish employment because of conviction of a violation of a criminal drug or alcohol law shall, upon a final judgment of acquittal or a final dismissal of the charges alleging the violation, be eligible for reinstatement with back pay, provided that the employee would not otherwise have been terminated for other reasons, or laid off, in the interim.

J.

Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit an appointing authority from taking disciplinary action if an employee's test shows the presence of alcohol or drugs which does not rise to the level of a positive test. Such disciplinary action should be consistent with the severity of the offense, the employee's work history and prior disciplinary action.

(Ord. No. 9877, § 2, 4-27-94; Ord. No. 11774, § 1, 6-28-00; Ord. No. 12268, § 1, 3-27-02; Ord. No. 15759, § 1, 9-10-14)