An employee who is not reappointed should send a written request for the reason(s) for the decision not to reappoint to the person who issued the notice. There is a 20-day limit on filing this request. The University has 20 days to respond in writing to this request. If there are grounds for a grievance, then Appendix "C" must be filed within 30 days of the statement of the reason(s) for nonreappointment. (Note: All time limits above are measured from receipt of the document using certified mail.)
What are the grounds for a possibly successful grievance on nonrenewal?
- Violation of constitutional rights, e.g. First Amendment.
- Discrimination. See Article 6.2(a).
- Violation of the Notice provisions of 12.2.
- Violation of Layoff Rights or other considerations in 12.4.
- Reprisal. See Article 20.12.
- Violation of Article 16.5, Termination. "A tenured or permanent status employee or any appointment of definite duration may be termninated during its term for just cause." If an employee is nonreappointed while under contract, it is deemed to be a disciplinary action and the University is obliged to prove "just cause."
The Union has prevailed through arbitration in cases involving (c) and (d) above, but it has had no success with the other categories. In Florida, except for grounds prohibited by statute, an employer does not have to provide reasons for nonreappointment. Our Agreement mandates the provision of reasons, but there is no requirement for the reasons to be correct or sensible. One arbitrator put it this way: "The University, in exercising its contractual right of reappointment, is not required t state facts sufficient to show just cause."
On the other hand, the University cannot come up with reasons that are "off the wall" or vague and murky. In another case, the arbitrator wrote that the reason for the decision to nonreappoint had to be sufficiently specific for the grievant to rebut. However, the demand for specificity is not the same as a requirement for justice and fairness.
