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Statement of Grievance:

In regards to the certified letter of reprimand sent by Mike Coutz on May 11, 2011 andreceived by Me, J. Hudson Yates on May 17, 2011. I have attached a copy for review.(Attachment A) I state the following about the 3 points of reprimand;

Point 1:

Arriving on Thursday April 28, 2011 in Charleston at 10:00 a.m. for a 2:00 p.m.scheduled show cause hearing without prior approval from your supervisor to arriveearly.

This should not be grounds for a reprimand because:

I have been with the Department of Tax and Revenues Compliance Division forfive years as a Revenue Agent II. During this time I have had three differentsupervisors and I have never been told by any of three that I needed permission

to arrive early for an already scheduled hearing that I am required and expectedto attend. Therefore, by arriving early, I was not I was not being disrespectful norwas I breaking some long held every body knows policy.

I went to Charleston early because I hadnt been contacted by nor had I ever metthe Staff attorney, Danielle Boyd. I wanted to meet Ms. Boyd and I wanted todiscuss the case with her to see if there was something she needed that I couldhelp with. It is the staff attorney that decides how to proceed with the case andwhat documents are needed. To prepare for one previous hearing I was incontact with the staff attorney, Tim Waggoner, several times weeks in advance todiscuss the case. The discussion included what documents I have that can beprovided and what our strategy would be. This case resulting in the reprimanddidnt include any of this contact. Attorney Boyd spent about 20 minutes with meand all she had in her folder to take to court was the notice of revocation, thenotice of service, and the summary of liability that I had prepared.

I realized that if I had been trained to do Business Registration Revocations Icould have been of more help.

After the hearing I sent a note to my supervisor, Kim Silvester requesting trainingregarding revocations, not just for me but also for all agents. I followed up a weeklater with Kim and she relayed to me that my request had been forwarded on toMr. Coutz. I have yet to hear a reply. (Attachment D)

In conclusion, based on the previous statements I do not feel that my early arrivalis grounds for a reprimand. The fact I had not been trained on the procedures ofrevocation plus the fact I had not been in contact with the attorney to discuss thecase, I decided that an early arrival was necessary.

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Point 2:

Not having in your possession the proper documentation regarding your assignedaccount.

As stated in point 1, had I been in contact with Attorney Boyd in advance I would

have been able to discuss with her what documents I did and did not have andthe circumstances of each. In addition, the fact that no formal training has beenprovided for this procedure, I feel that I was not adequately prepared forsomething as serious as a show cause hearing.

After consulting the Compliance Policy and Procedure Manual, a list ofdocuments exist as required pre hearing, however this has never been verified,requested, or even mentioned by my supervisor or Mike Coutz when I haveprepared the certificate of service, notice to appear, and summary of liability andsubmitted by email to both Kim Silvester and Mike Coutz two times before eachhearing. Based upon this, it appears that no specific guidelines are given beyond

that and doesnt appear to have been followed. Please see attached copy of theMemorandum Regarding Service of Process for Business Registration Certificate(Business License) Show Cause Hearings from the West Virginia State TaxDepartment Compliance Division Policy and Procedures Manuals most recent2009 edition. Also attached is West Virginia Codes 11-12-5(b)(4) and 11-10-5eas cited in the Memorandum above. (Attachments B and C, respectively)

In conclusion, based on the previous statement I do not feel that this is groundsfor reprimand as to the fact that the state code and policy procedures do notspecifically state what is required. Additionally as pointed out in point 1, I had notbeen in contact with Attorney Boyd prior to discuss what documents I mightprovide.

Point 3:

Testifying under oath as to having three (3) signed payment agreements with nonecompleted in Gentax or prepared manually.

I do not recall what I actually testified to. I am sure the transcript of the hearingwill make clear what actually transpired and was said. I contacted the Office ofTax Appeals to request a transcript for the record. Stephen Lee returned my callat 11:30am and left a voice mail. Stephen noted that a transcript would not be

released to me because I was not a party to the proceedings; even though I wasin attendance and provided testimony I was not a party of the proceedings. Hecontinued to state that according to their rules that this will not be released to me.He also invited me to call back on May 19, 2011 to discuss other avenues. I havesaved this voice mail message, but the system will only allow the message to besaved for 30 days. I also have a tape recorded version of this voice mail availablefor review by request.

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During the most recent Annual Meeting of the Compliance Division Jeff Oakesreported that the WV code makes no mention of a delinquent taxpayer beingentitled to a payment plan. He said that it is however offered as a courtesy. In theyears prior to Gentax most payment agreements were verbal. We would put anote on the proper account in what is now called Legacy. With the onset of

GenTax it became possible to do a proper payment plan with a signature page.Currently Gentax has an upper limit of the number of months payment plansextend and each tax type is put on a separate payment agreement adding to thetime limitations of the payment plan. With this, it is difficult in most cases toexecute a payment plan. Additionally, we have been told repeatedly that unless apayment agreement exists in Gentax it is invalid and doesnt exist. This meansthat a manual payment agreement would be considered null and void as well.

In this particular incidence surrounding this reprimand, Jan Mudrinich of theLegal Department said that he wasnt concerned if there was or wasnt a signedpayment agreement. He stated that the burden is on the taxpayer to show causeas to why the business license should not be revoked. Attorney Mudrinich argued

that any payment short of payment in full is considered in default.

In conclusion, based on the previous statement I do not feel that this is groundsfor part of the reprimand as to the fact the Executive Director of the Office of Tax

Appeals and the judge does not consider me a party to the proceedings making atranscript available to verify what was actually said.

Additional Points:

We are all entitled to our own private thoughts and special friendships, and Mr.

Coutz is no different. However, we all must be very careful that we do not allowour prejudices to color the way we think of or the way we treat the folks we findunder our direct supervision. It is very difficult to do your best job when you findyourself in a Hostile working environment.

On March 24, 2011 Paula Junkins scanned and attached a memo of approval foran Offer and Compromise on the account of a taxpayer. I was made aware ofthis on March 29, 2011 and noticed that my name had been printed on thesignature line. I wanted it known that I did not sign this document nor did Iparticipate in the preparation of it, so I made a note on this account regardingthat although my name appears on the signature line that I did not sign this

document. On April 13, 2011 Paula Junkins added an additional note that MikeCoutz added my name to this document and was not meant to be interpreted asa signature. I wasnt aware that this note had been added until I had a phoneconversation with Kim Silvester on April 29, 2011. During this conversation Idiscussed the events on the previous day, April 28, 2011, regarding the showcause hearing that prompted the reprimand. Kim stated that Mike was upset thatI added the note about my signature/ name on the taxpayers account. Iexplained to her why I added that note. Since this offer was not prepared or

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conducted by me my name and signature is unnecessary and I wanted it to beknown by any third party that may review this account and see my name torealize it is not my signature. During this same conversation I made a verbalrequest regarding adequate training. I followed this up with an email sent to KimSilvester at 4:21pm April 29, 2011 which was read by Kim at 4:42pm the same

day. A copy of these documents can be made available upon authorization of thetaxpayer due to confidentiality of information. The email requesting training isattached for review. It was also brought to my attention via a voice mail left on myoffice that two other offers and compromise have been prepared without myparticipation and that Mike Coutz will add my name again. I have saved thisvoicemail, but the system will only save messages for 30 days. I do have a tape-recorded version available for review by request.

Relief Sought:

The resolution I seek is to:

1: Have this reprimand voided and expunged from my personnel file.

2: An adequate training program instituted regarding show cause hearings that wouldinclude a timeline as to when contact with the staff attorney should be made to discussthe case. That time directly before the hearing should be used to coordinate finaldetails.

3: I should not have to report directly or indirectly to Mike Coutz.

4: Other than a Sexual Harassment seminar that everyone is required to attend we

have had no other training seminars conducted on workplace behavior andexpectations. A training session regarding appropriate behaviors and expectations ofsuperiors and subordinates is warranted.

5: Additional training regarding fieldwork and specifics of my current employment as aRevenue Agent II as I have had no formal training in either of these aspects, despiterequesting it to be part of our last annual meeting in 2009. The Annual meetingconsisted mainly on the use of the Gentax computer program.

6: FORBID ANYONE FROM AFFIXAING ANYONES NAME OR SIGNATURE NOTHIS/ HER OWN TO ANY DOCUMENT.

Submitted By J. HudsonYates on May 19, 2011

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Attachments(A) Copy of Written Reprimand

(B) Copy Memorandum Regarding Service of Process for BusinessRegistration Certificate (Business License) Show Cause hearing

(C) Copy of West Virginia codes referenced in Above Memorandum

(D) Email to Kim Silvester regarding training on Revocation Hearings withtaxpayers name removed.

(E) Edited version of the signature pages on three Offers and Compromises