Definitions
1. The
following terms have these meanings in this Policy:
a) “Appellant”
– The Party appealing a decision
b) “Association”
– Basketball Manitoba
c) “Case Manager” – An individual appointed
by the Association, who may be any Association Staff, Committee member, Volunteer,
Director, or an independent third party, to oversee this Appeal Policy.
d) “Days”
– Any day of the week, including weekends and holidays
e) “Individuals” – All categories of membership defined in the Association’s
Bylaws, as well as all individuals
engaged in activities with the Association including, but not limited to,
athletes, coaches, managers, officials, volunteers, and committee or board
members of the Association.
f) “Parties” – The Appellant, Respondent,
and any other Individuals or persons affected by the appeal
g) “Respondent”
– The party whose decision is being appealed
Purpose
2. The
Association is committed to providing an environment in which all Individuals
involved with the Association are treated with respect. The Association
provides Individuals with this Appeal
Policy to enable fair, affordable, and expedient appeals of certain
decisions made by the Association.
Scope and Application of this Policy
3. This
Policy applies to all Individuals. Any Individual who is directly affected by an
Association decision shall have the right to appeal that decision; provided
there are sufficient grounds for the appeal under the ‘Grounds for Appeal’
section of this Policy. This Policy does
not apply to any Association employees as such matters are governed by the Association’s
policies that expressly apply to its employees.
4. This Policy will apply
to decisions made by the Association relating to:
a) Eligibility
b) Conflict of Interest
c) Discipline
d) Membership
5. This Policy will not apply to decisions relating to:
a) Employment
b) Infractions for doping offenses
c) The rules of sport
d) Athlete Selection, selection criteria, quotas, policies, and procedures established
by entities other than the Association
e) Substance, content and establishment of team selection criteria
f) Volunteer/coach appointments and the withdrawal or termination of
those appointments
g) Budgeting and budget implementation
h) The Association’s operational structure and committee appointments
i) Decisions or discipline arising within the business, activities,
or events organized by entities other than the Association (appeals of these decisions shall be dealt with pursuant to the policies of those other
entities unless accepted by the Association at
its sole discretion)
j) Decisions
or discipline arising within competition
k) Decisions made under this Policy
Timing of Appeal
6. Individuals who wish to appeal a decision have twenty-one (21) days from the date on which they received notice of the decision
to submit, in writing to the Association, the following:
a)
Notice of the intention to appeal
b)
Contact information of the appellant
c)
Name of the respondent and any affected parties
d)
Date the appellant was advised of the decision being appealed
e)
A copy of the decision being appealed, or description of decision
if written document is not available
f) Grounds for the appeal
g)
Detailed reasons for the appeal
h) All evidence that supports these grounds
i) Requested remedy or remedies
7. An Individual who wishes to initiate an appeal beyond the twenty-one (21) day
period must provide a written request stating the reasons for an exemption. The
decision to allow, or not allow, an appeal outside of
the twenty-one (21) day period will be at the sole discretion of the Case
Manager and may not be appealed.
Grounds
for Appeal
8. A decision cannot be appealed on its merits alone. An appeal may
only be heard if there are sufficient grounds for appeal. Sufficient grounds
are limited to submissions that include the Respondent:
a) Made a decision that it did not have authority or jurisdiction (as
set out in the relevant governing
documents)
b) Failed to follow its own procedures (as set out in the relevant governing documents)
c) Made a decision that was influenced by bias (where bias is defined
as a lack of neutrality to such an extent that the decision-maker is unable to
consider other views)
d) Failed to consider relevant information or took into account
irrelevant information in making the decision
9. The
Appellant bears the onus of proof and must demonstrate, on a balance of
probabilities, the occurrence of one of the circumstances set out in Section 8
(eight) of this Policy and that such circumstances had, or may reasonably have
had, a material effect on the decision or decision-maker.
Screening of Appeal
10. Upon receiving the notice of the appeal, and all other information
(outlined in the ‘Timing of Appeal’ section of this Policy), the Association will
review the appeal and attempt to resolve the appeal by mediation.
11.
Should the mediation fail to resolve the appeal, the Association
will appoint an independent
third-party Case Manager who has the following
responsibilities:
a)
Determine if the appeal falls under the scope of this Policy
b)
Determine if the appeal was submitted in a timely manner
c)
Decide whether there are sufficient grounds for the appeal
12. If
the appeal is denied on the basis of insufficient grounds, because it was not
submitted in a timely manner, or because it did not fall under the scope of
this Policy, the Appellant will be notified, in writing, of the reasons for
this decision. This decision may not be appealed.
13. If
the Case Manager is satisfied that the appeal should not be denied as provided
in Section 12 (twelve) of this Policy, the Case Manager will appoint an Appeals
Panel which shall consist of a single Panel Member to
hear the appeal. At the discretion of the Case Manager, a Panel of three
persons may be appointed to hear the appeal. In this event, the Case Manager
will appoint one of the Panel’s members to serve as the Chair.
Procedure for Appeal Hearing
14. The
Case Manager shall notify the Parties that the appeal will be heard. The Case
Manager shall then decide the format under which the appeal will be heard. This
decision is at the sole discretion of the Case Manager and may not be appealed.
15.
If
a Party chooses not to participate in the hearing, the hearing will proceed in
any event.
16. The format of the hearing may
involve an oral in-person hearing, an oral hearing by telephone, a
hearing
based on a review of documentary evidence submitted in advance of the hearing,
or a
combination of these methods. The hearing will be governed by the
procedures that the Case
Manager and the Panel deem appropriate in the
circumstances, provided that:
b) The Parties will be given reasonable notice of
the day, time and place of the hearing
c) Copies
of any written documents which the parties wish to have the Panel consider will
be provided to all Parties in advance of the hearing
d)
The Parties may be accompanied by a representative, advisor, or
legal counsel at their
own expense
e) The
Panel may request that any other individual participate and give evidence at
the hearing
f) The Panel may allow as evidence at
the hearing any oral evidence and document or thing
relevant to the subject
matter of the appeal, but may exclude such evidence that is unduly
repetitious
and shall place such weight on the evidence as it deems appropriate
g) If a decision in the appeal may affect another person to the extent that the other person
would have recourse to an appeal in their own right under this Policy, that person will
become a party to the appeal in question and will be bound by its outcome
h) The
decision to uphold or reject the appeal will be by a majority vote of Panel
members
17.
In fulfilling its duties, the
Panel may obtain independent advice.
Appeal Decision
18. The Panel shall issue
its decision, in writing and with reasons, after the hearing’s conclusion.
The
Panel may decide to:
a)
Reject the appeal and confirm the decision being appealed
b)
Uphold the appeal and refer the matter back to the initial
decision-maker for a new decision
c)
Uphold the appeal and vary the decision
19.
The
Panel's written decision, with reasons, will be distributed to all Parties, the
Case Manager, and the Association. In extraordinary circumstances, the Panel
may first issue a verbal or summary decision soon after the hearing’s
conclusion, with the full written decision to be issued thereafter. The
decision will be considered a matter of public record unless decided otherwise
by the Panel.
Confidentiality
20. The appeals process is
confidential and involves only the Parties, the Case Manager, the Panel,
and
any independent advisors to the Panel. Once initiated and until a decision is
released, none
of the Parties will disclose confidential information to any
person not involved in the
proceedings.
21. Appeal
decisions that are matters of public interest shall be publicly available with
the names of the individuals redacted. Names of persons disciplined/affected
may be disclosed to the extent necessary to give effect to any decision
imposed.
Final and
Binding
22. The decision of the
Panel will be binding on the Parties and on all Individuals associated with
the
Association.
23. No action or legal
proceeding will be commenced against the Association or Individuals in
respect
of a dispute, unless the Association has refused or failed to provide or abide
by the
dispute resolution process and/or appeal process as set out in the Association’s
policies, procedures, rules and regulations.
Board
Approval Date: February 1, 2016