Eastern Washington University

Cheney, WA 99004-2445

USE THIS FORM FOR EXEMPT EMPLOYEES:

[In order to determine who is responsible for issuing this Notice determine which of the following three options apply: 1)If the supervisor is the investigator, then he/she would issue this notice; 2) If the supervisordesignates a third party to investigate, the supervisor is required to issue the “Authority for Conducting Fact Finding Investigation.” if the investigator is outside of their chain of command; or 3) If University Policy requires the investigation be conducted by a specific University Designee (e.g. Affirmative Action, Environmental Health & Safety, etc.).

DATE:

TO:Employee, Respondent(Name, Job Title)

FROM:Investigator(Name, Job Title)

Cc:Supervisor(s), (Name, Job Title)

Joe Fuxa, Labor Relations Manager

Julie Griffis, Investigator/Mediator

This is a notice of an investigation concerning allegations (if a compliant) about (Describe incident being investigated in enough detail the employee knows what the investigation is about).

(Select one of the following two options and delete other):

1)I received the complaint on (date) from (name) and will be conducting an investigation;

2)I (observed) or (became aware of ) this behavior, incident or performance concern on (date) and will be conducting an investigation;

I will be meeting with you on(date, time, and place) to interview you as part of my fact finding investigation into the allegation(s).During our initial meeting you will be provided an opportunity to review the written complaint if appropriate. You can determine whether you will respond at the first meeting or request another meeting for your response.

In order to help you understand how the process will work, a copy of the EWU Investigation Guidelines is attached for your review. I encourage you to review these Guidelines carefully and bring any questions you have to the meeting.

(Optional: The investigative guidelines, which you will include as an attachment, include provisions about confidentiality and retaliation. However, you may decide to reiterate this provision in this Notice to provide further emphasis of its importance for the employee).

Remember, as described in Section 1-3 of the EWU Investigation Guidelines, employees have an obligation during the course of an investigation to refrain from retaliatory behavior. Retaliation is conduct or behavior that has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s activities or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work/education environment. Retaliation is misconduct, which if proven true, may result in discipline, up to and including termination. Examples of actions which may be considered retaliatory include, but are not limited to, discussing the complaint with/or in the presence of the complainant or witnesses (If the respondent has supervisory responsibility you may also want to add: “or taking adverse action against the complainant and/or witnesses).

Also remember, as described in Section 1-4 of the EWU Investigation Guidelines, it is expected that the parties to the investigation will observe a standard of strict confidentiality as this practice is in the best interests of all parties to the investigation and helps to maintain the integrity of the investigation. Failure to respect confidentiality may lead to allegations of retaliation.

If you have any questions or need any further clarification, please contact me at (business phone number).

Attachments: EWU Guidelines 401-01

Investigation Process flowchart

Complaint (if applicable)

Eastern Washington University is committed to equal opportunity and affirmative action in employment.