(a) Any person, except for a current ward of the Division of Juvenile Facilities, a current inmate of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, or a current patient of a facility operated by the State Department of State Hospitals, with the consent of the board or the appointing power may file charges against an employee requesting that adverse action be taken for one or more causes for discipline specified in this article. Charges filed by a person who is a state employee shall not include issues covered by the state’s employee grievance or other merit appeals processes. Any request of the board to file charges pursuant to this section shall be filed within one year of the event or events that led to the filing. The employee against whom the charges are filed shall have a right to answer as provided in this article. In all of these cases, a hearing shall be conducted in accord with this article and if the board finds that the charges are true it shall have the power to take any adverse action as in its judgment is just and proper. An employee who has sought to bring a charge or an adverse action against another employee using the grievance process, shall first exhaust that administrative process prior to bringing the case to the board.
(b) This section shall not be construed to supersede Section 19682.
(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 440, Sec. 21. (AB 1488) Effective September 22, 2012.)