QSTI/QSTO Program Guidelines
Complaints and Disciplinary Action
A Claimant may submit a Complaint (such as fraud, deceit, misrepresentation, negligence, incompetence, breach of contract, and presenting false QSTI or QSTO credentials) regarding a QSTI’s or QSTO’s (Subject’s) performance and professional conduct as related to a source test or tests.
All information obtained from a Claimant and Subject shall be treated as confidential, unless such information is previously known to SES, comes into the public domain through no fault of SES, or is furnished to SES by a third party who is under no obligation to keep the information confidential. If SES is subpoenaed to disclose confidential information obtained from a Claimant or Subject regarding a Complaint, SES will give the Claimant and Subject reasonable notice and the opportunity to object before releasing any confidential information.
If the Claimant is requesting identity protection as a whistleblower, SES will protect the Claimant’s personal information to the extent it is practical to do so. SES will notify the Claimant if, in the opinion of the SES QSTI/QSTO Committee, the investigation cannot proceed without disclosing the Claimant’s personal information to the other parties involved in the Complaint. The Claimant may withdraw a Complaint or the SES may dismiss the complaint under such circumstances. If the Claimant agrees to allow disclosure of his/her personal information, SES will proceed with Complaint evaluation and/or investigation. However, in any event, if the complaint involves criminal activity, SES reserves the right to take action as described below.
Complaints shall be directed to the SES President in writing with a full and detailed account of the incident(s) or issue(s) including chronology (with dates), locations, names and contact information of other parties with information concerning the Complaint, and all of the information that you have about the Complaint. Complaints shall be signed and dated by the Claimant (including street address, city, state/province, country, zip/postal code, email address and telephone number).
Any SES officer, Member-at-Large, committee member (including chair and/or co-chair), or administrator who is a Claimant, Subject or a directly-involved party in the Complaint, or has an actual or potential conflict of interest related to the Complaint, shall recuse himself or herself from participation in any and all aspects of the Complaint. If such recusal results in less than three investigating SES QSTI/QSTO Committee members, the SES President, Vice-President, or Board of Directors may appoint additional SES QSTI/QSTO Committee members to evaluate and/or investigate the complaint.
The SES President shall submit the Complaint to the SES QSTI/QSTO Committee.
The SES QSTI/QSTO Committee shall review the basis for the Complaint and within 10 calendar days recommend further investigation or dismissal of the Complaint.
If the SES QSTI/QSTO Committee recommends investigating the Complaint, such investigation generally shall be completed within 30 calendar days of reaching a decision to investigate. In some cases involving the most serious or complex incidents, the investigation may require more time.
The SES QSTI/QSTO Committee shall interview the Claimant and the Subject separately to evaluate the nature, truthfulness, seriousness, and consequences of the Complaint. The SES QSTI/QSTO Committee may, at its own discretion, request additional information from the Claimant, Subject and/or contact other persons identified during the investigation. Failure of the Claimant to respond to the SES QSTI/QSTO Committee’s request for interview or additional information within 10 calendar days may result in dismissal of the Complaint. Failure of the Subject to respond to the SES QSTI/QSTO Committee’s request for interview or additional information within 10 calendar days may result in disciplinary action. The SES QSTI/QSTO Committee shall review the information gathered during the investigation and recommend that the SES President take one or more of the following actions toward a Subject:
- Revoking QSTI and/or QSTO approval;
- Suspending QSTI and/or QSTO approval;
- Placing Subjects on probation;
- Administrative citations;
- Warnings;
- Dismissal of the Complaint; or
- In the case of alleged criminal activities, refer action to a district attorney.
SES QSTI/QSTO Committee shall report its recommendation to the SES President.
The SES President shall review the recommendation with the SES Board of Directors and make a final decision regarding the Complaint. The SES Board of Directors and the SES President may override the SES QSTI/QSTO Committee's recommendation by unanimous vote.
The SES President shall present the outcome of the investigation in writing to the Subject and the Claimant.
Any action resulting from a Complaint may be appealed as described below.
The SES shall maintain all records of a Complaint and any resulting action in the permanent files for a period of 7 years.
Disciplinary Action Appeal
Subjects may appeal disciplinary action in response to a Complaint.
The appeal process shall be initiated by a letter from the Subject to the SES President. The letter shall include a full and detailed account of the basis for the appeal and any new documents, circumstances and all other information regarding the incident that the Subject believes were not adequately considered during the complaint investigation.
The SES President shall submit the letter to the SES QSTI/QSTO Committee and ask for their recommendation.
The SES QSTI/QSTO Committee shall review the basis for the appeal and within 10 calendar days recommend to review or deny the appeal.
If the SES QSTI/QSTO Committee recommends review of the appeal, such review generally shall be completed within 30 calendar days. In some cases involving the most serious or complex incidents, the appeal review may require more time.
SES QSTI/QSTO Committee shall report its recommendations to the SES President.
The SES President shall review the recommendation with the SES Board of Directors and make a final decision on the appeal. The SES Board of Directors and the SES President may override the SES QSTI/QSTO Committee's recommendation by unanimous vote.
The SES President shall notify the Subject in writing of the outcome of the appeal. If the appeal results in a reversal of the initial disciplinary action regarding the same Complaint, the Claimant also shall be notified of the outcome of the appeal.
All appeal decisions shall be final.
The SES shall maintain all records of the appeal in the permanent files for a period of 7 years.
SES may revise these guidelines at any time.