conduct which violates applicable federal, state or local law, including, but not limited to discrimination or harassment, or other offensive conduct related to an ARCCA employee’s race, religion, color, sex, gender, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, military status, marital status, pregnancy, age, disability, or any other category protected by applicable law, is a violation of ARCCA policy. Harassment may include slurs, any other offensive remarks, jokes, and other verbal, graphic, or physical conduct. Harassment further includes sexual advances, verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, sexual comments and gender-based insults. ARCCA also prohibits any retaliation, including, without limitation, derogatory comments, or discrimination of any kind, against any employee who, in good faith, submits a complaint or against any employee who is a witness or is otherwise involved in the investigation of any Grievance. The Grievance Committee has a policy of zero tolerance of abuse of ARCCA’s employees. Upon receiving an employee complaint, ARCCA’s CEO will conduct an investigation and may thereafter file with the Grievance Committee a Grievance on behalf of the employee(s) as promptly as possible. The Grievance Committee may enlist employees of ARCCA (with the advice and consent of the CEO), and/or outside legal counsel, private investigators, or any other resource, as appropriate, to conduct the investigation of such Grievances. Such investigation may include interviews with the Complainant, the Respondent(s), any witnesses, and any other persons as appropriate. ARCCA prohibits Respondent(s) from hindering such internal investigation and/or the Grievance procedure. Failure by Respondent(s) to fully cooperate in any such investigation shall be a violation of this policy, and shall allow the investigator to draw adverse inferences to be considered by the Grievance Committee when evaluating the complaint. Investigation The Chair of the Grievance Committee will review all Grievances and will assign each Grievance to one or more members of the Grievance Committee to conduct an investigation. For Grievances arising out of ARC matters, the documentation compiled and provided by the ARC may serve as the investigation record for the Grievance Committee’s review. The nature and scope of the Grievance investigation will be determined in the sole discretion of the Grievance Committee and/or the assigned Grievance Committee investigator(s), but shall include, at minimum, an interview with the Complainant(s) (or, in the case of Grievances initiated by the CEO, the complaining employee) and the Respondent(s). Respondent(s) shall be given an opportunity to respond to the allegations in the Grievance. The Grievance Committee, in its evaluation of the Grievance, may consider and draw an adverse inference from the failure or refusal of a Respondent to cooperate with the Grievance Committee or the investigator(s). Upon completion of the investigation, the assigned Grievance Committee investigator(s) will report the results of the investigation to the Grievance Committee Chair. Upon receipt of the investigation report, the Grievance Committee Chair shall call a meeting of the Grievance Committee to review the investigation report and to make a determination of the action, if any, to be taken on the Grievance. The Grievance Committee shall complete its investigation and make a determination within sixty (60) days of the date the initial Grievance notice is sent to the Respondent(s), unless good cause can be shown. Good cause may include, but not be limited to, the unavailability of members of the Grievance Committee, a Complainant, a Respondent or a witness. In the event that the Grievance Committee determines to proceed with the Grievance, a hearing shall be held in accordance with these Rules.
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