Rappahannock County, VA Chapter 90 Discrimination

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Rappahannock: Art. I, 1-4-1984; Art. II, 10-15-1984. Amendments noted where applicable.]

GENERAL REFERENCES

Personnel policies — See Ch. 36.

Article I Equal Opportunity

[Adopted 1-4-1984]

§ 90-1 Policy.

In compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it is the policy of Rappahannock County (hereinafter referred to as the "county") to:

A. Provide equality of opportunity in employment with the county for all persons, regardless of race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

B. Carry out all programs and activities in compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and in such manner that no person shall, on the grounds of race, color, national origin, religion or sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of or be subjected to discrimination with respect to any such programs or activities.

Article II Handicapped Grievance Procedures

[Adopted 10-15-1984]

§ 90-2 Purpose; authority.

The procedures hereby adopted by the County of Rappahannock are for the purpose of resolving allegations of discrimination against handicapped individuals, and are made in accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Public Law 93-112) as amended by the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1974 (Public Law 93-516) as well as Federal regulations implementing these laws contained at 31 CFR 51.55(d)(2).

§ 90-3 Policy; applicability.

A. It is declared to be the policy of Rappahannock County, Virginia, that no otherwise qualified handicapped individual shall, solely by reason of his or her handicap, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance conducted by the County of Rappahannock. Any person who believes that any office, agent, employee or program of Rappahannock County has discriminated against him or her becaue of a handicap shall be entitled to file a complaint hereunder.

B. This procedure shall not apply to any complaint from any applicant for employment or an applicant for admission to post-secondary educational institutions.

C. If the grievance is against a program, office, agency, school, school board or other activity, or an employee of any of the foregoing, funded in whole or in part by the County of Rappahannock, which has its own grievance procedure in accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, then the grievance procedure established hereby shall not be available.

§ 90-4 Required proof.

To have standing to file a complaint hereunder, the complainant must affirmatively allege and prove the following:

A. That the complainant is a handicapped individual.

B. That the program or activity complained of is a recipient of federal financial assistance and is conducted by the County of Rappahannock.

C. That he or she has no alternative grievance procedure, as described in § 90-3, above, and that there is not now pending nor has there ever been filed a greivance on the same alleged discrimination.

§ 90-5 Complaint procedure.

A. In addition to the affirmative statements which must accompany every complaint as stated in § 90-4, above, every complaint must be in writing and must specifically state the ground for the complaint, the facts upon which the complaint is based and the date on which the complainant became aware of the discrimination.

B. The complaint must be signed and sworn to under oath by the complainant.

C. The complaint must include the complainant's address and telephone number.

D. The complaint must be postmarked within sixty (60) days of the discovery by the complainant of the alleged act of discrimination. The complaint should be mailed to Chairman, Board of Supervisors, P.O. Box 116, Washington, Virginia 22747.

§ 90-6 Investigation.

The Compliance Officer shall conduct an investigation to determine whether or not in his opinion the complaint is founded. The Compliance Officer may receive and consider any evidence which he deems pertinent to the complaint, including written statements from any concerned party, provided that any written statements so received shall be under oath and notarized. At a minimum, a statement shall be taken from the complainant and the party against whom the complaint is made. He may conduct a hearing, after notice to the parties, if he feels one is necessary to resolve the complaint, at which hearing both the complainant and the party against whom the complaint is made shall have the right to be present and present such evidence as they desire. Either party has the right to be represented by counsel at such hearing, but the hearing need not comply with the rules of evidence and procedure used by the courts of Virginia. Within sixty (60) days from the date the written complaint is received by the Compliance Officer, he shall submit a written decision to the complainant and to the person against whom the complaint was made. A copy of the decision shall be forwarded to the Board of Supervisors of Rappahannock County and the County Attorney for Rappahannock County for action.

§ 90-7 Designation of Compliance Officer.

The Compliance Officer for Rappahannock County, Virginia is designated to be the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, and all complaints made hereunder should be addressed to him at P.O. Box 116, Washington, Virginia 22747.