2023 Connecticut General Statutes › Title 46a - Human Rights › Chapter 814c - Human Rights and Opportunities › Section 46a-84. - Complaint: Certification; hearing; settlement or alternate dispute resolution endeavors; default order; inspection of records. Appointment of magistrate to act as presiding officer.

(a) If the investigator fails to eliminate a discriminatory practice complained of pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) of section 46a-82 within fifty days of a finding of reasonable cause, the investigator shall, within ten days, certify the complaint and the results of the investigation to the executive director of the commission and to the Attorney General. The investigator's conclusion that conciliation has failed shall be conclusive on the issue.
(b) Upon (1) certification of a complaint filed pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) of section 46a-82, (2) the filing of a complaint pursuant to subsection (c) of said section, or (3) a decision to hear a complaint, which is made pursuant to subsection (e) of section 46a-83, the Chief Human Rights Referee shall appoint a human rights referee to act as a presiding officer to hear the complaint. The chief referee shall also appoint an individual authorized by subsection (e) of this section or a referee, other than the referee appointed to hear the complaint, to conduct settlement negotiations. The chief referee shall serve in the name of the commission, and in accordance with section 46a-86a, a copy of the complaint, as the same may have been amended, requiring the respondent to answer the charges of the complaint, together with a written notice requiring the respondent to appear at a hearing or settlement conference at a date and time specified in the notice. A hearing on a complaint filed pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) of section 46a-82 shall be commenced by convening a hearing conference not later than forty-five days after the certification of the complaint. Such hearing shall be a de novo hearing on the merits of the complaint and not an appeal of the commission's processing of the complaint prior to its certification. A hearing on a complaint filed pursuant to subsection (c) of section 46a-82 shall be commenced by convening a hearing conference not later than twenty days after the date of notice of such complaint. Hearings shall proceed with reasonable dispatch and be concluded in accordance with the provisions of section 4-180.
(c) The place of any hearing, hearing conference or settlement conference shall be the commission's administrative office in Hartford, unless all parties mutually agree to an alternate location.
(d) The case in support of the complaint shall be presented at the hearing by the Attorney General, who shall be counsel for the commission, or by a commission legal counsel as provided in section 46a-55. If the Attorney General or the commission legal counsel determines that a material mistake of law or fact has been made in the finding of reasonable cause on a complaint filed pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) of section 46a-82, or the commission legal counsel determines that a complaint to be heard pursuant to subsection (e) of section 46a-83, should be further investigated, the Attorney General or the commission legal counsel may withdraw the certification of the complaint or the decision to hear the complaint and remand the file to the investigator for further action. The investigator shall complete any required action not later than ninety days after receipt of such file. The complainant may be represented by an attorney of the complainant's own choice. If the Attorney General or the commission legal counsel determines that the interests of the state will not be adversely affected, the complainant or the attorney for the complainant shall present all or part of the case in support of the complaint. No commissioner may participate in the deliberations of the presiding officer in the case.
(e) A human rights referee or attorney who volunteers service pursuant to subdivision (18) of section 46a-54 may supervise settlement endeavors. In employment discrimination cases only, the complainant and respondent, with the permission of the chief referee, may engage in alternate dispute resolution endeavors for not more than three months. The cost of such alternate dispute resolution endeavors shall be borne by the complainant or the respondent, or both, and not by the commission. Any endeavors or negotiations for conciliation, settlement or alternate dispute resolution shall not be received in evidence.
(f) The respondent shall file a written answer to the complaint under oath and appear at the hearing in person or otherwise, with or without counsel, and submit testimony and be fully heard. If the respondent fails to file a written answer not later than fifteen days after the date of service of the complaint, or fails to appear at the hearing, hearing conference or settlement conference after notice in accordance with section 4-177, the presiding officer or a referee or an attorney who volunteers services pursuant to subsection (e) of this section may enter an order of default and order such relief as is necessary to eliminate the discriminatory practice and make the complainant whole, except that if the default was entered by an attorney who volunteers services pursuant to subsection (e) of this section, the chief referee shall appoint a referee to act as a presiding officer to award relief. The commission or the complainant may petition the Superior Court for enforcement of any such order for relief pursuant to section 46a-95.
(g) The presiding officer conducting any hearing shall permit reasonable amendment to any complaint or answer and the testimony taken at the hearing shall be under oath and be transcribed at the request of any party.
(h) The complainant, the respondent and the commission shall be afforded the opportunity to inspect and copy relevant and material records, papers and documents not in the possession of such party, except as otherwise provided by applicable state law. The presiding officer may order a party to produce such records, papers and documents, and if a party fails to comply with such order within thirty days of the date of such order, the presiding officer may issue a nonmonetary order that the presiding officer deems just and appropriate, including, but not limited to, an order (1) finding that the matters that are the subject of the order are established in accordance with the claim of the party requesting such order, (2) prohibiting the party who has failed to comply with such order from introducing designated matters into evidence, (3) limiting the participation of the noncomplying party with regard to issues or facts relating to the order, and (4) drawing an adverse inference against the noncomplying party.
(i) When the executive director of the commission has determined that there are available appropriations and otherwise approves a request, the Chief Human Rights Referee may appoint any magistrate, who is on the list of available magistrates maintained by the Chief Court Administrator, to act as a presiding officer at any proceeding conducted pursuant to this section, subsection (l) of section 46a-83, subsection (c) or (d) of section 46a-56 or subsection (e) of section 4-61dd. Any magistrate so appointed shall have the same powers and duties as a human rights referee appointed pursuant to section 46a-57 and be compensated in accordance with the provisions of section 51-193r from such funds as may be available to the commission. The Chief Human Rights Referee may request the appointment of a magistrate whenever the total number of complaints pending in the commission's office of public hearings exceeds one hundred.
(P.A. 80-422, S. 32; P.A. 88-317, S. 100, 107; P.A. 89-332, S. 5, 7; P.A. 91-302, S. 4, 5; P.A. 93-362, S. 3; P.A. 94-238, S. 2, 6; P.A. 96-241, S. 5, 7; P.A. 98-245, S. 4, 14; P.A. 03-19, S. 100; 03-143, S. 2; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, S. 194; P.A. 07-142, S. 7; P.A. 11-237, S. 8; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 15-5, S. 77; P.A. 19-16, S. 8; 19-93, S. 3, 4; P.A. 21-109, S. 2.)
History: P.A. 88-317 substituted “hearing officer” for “hearing examiner” in Subsec. (b) and “presiding officer” for “hearing officer” in Subsecs. (b), (d) and (g), effective July 1, 1989, and applicable to all agency proceedings commencing on or after that date; P.A. 89-332 amended Subsec. (a) to require commissioner or investigator to certify complaint if he fails to eliminate discriminatory practice within 45 days of finding of reasonable cause, amended Subsec. (b) to require hearing to be held not later than 90 days of finding of reasonable cause, amended Subsec. (d) to provide complainant may be represented by attorney of own choice, and amended Subsec. (f) to require respondent's written answer to be under oath; P.A. 91-302 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting “commissioner or” before “investigator” and changing “chairman” to “executive director”, amended Subsec. (b) by changing “chairman” to “executive director or his designee” and deleting “or one member of the commission” after “hearing officer”, amended Subsec. (d) by deleting “who previously made the investigation or caused the notice to be issued may participate in the hearing except as a witness, nor” after “commissioner”, amended Subsec. (f) by adding provision re entry of order of default and order of such relief as necessary to eliminate discriminatory practice by presiding officer if respondent fails to file written answer or fails to appear and enforcement of order by superior court, and amended Subsec. (g) by changing “may” to “shall” before “permit”; P.A. 93-362 added “or hearing adjudicator” after “hearing officer”, added provision that hearing shall be de novo hearing on the merits of complaint and not appeal of commission's processing of complaint prior to its certification, added provision that attorney general or commission counsel may allow attorney for complainant to present all or part of the case in support of the complaint, if interests of state will not be adversely affected, and added Subsec. (e) re supervision of settlement endeavors and alternative dispute resolution endeavors in employment discrimination cases only, where complainant and respondent agree; P.A. 94-238 amended Subsec. (d) by adding provision re determination of material mistake of law or fact and withdrawal of certification, effective July 1, 1994; P.A. 96-241 amended Subsec. (b) changing reference to hearings “held” to hearings “commenced by convening a hearing conference” and added provision that hearing shall proceed with reasonable dispatch and conclude in accordance with 4-180, effective June 6, 1996; P.A. 98-245 amended Subsec. (a) changing 45 to 50 days and providing 10 days to certify the complaint and amended Subsec. (b) to provide for hearing conference not later than 45 days after certification of the complaint, effective July 1, 1998, and applicable to all cases pending with the commission or in the courts and cases filed on or after said date; P.A. 03-19 made a technical change in Subsec. (e), effective May 12, 2003; P.A. 03-143 amended Subsec. (d) by replacing provision re complainant's attorney may be allowed to present all or part of case with provision re complainant's attorney shall present all or part of case; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6 amended Subsec. (d) to authorize presentation of case by “a commission legal counsel” rather than “the commission counsel” and replace subsequent references to “the commission counsel” with “the commission legal counsel”, effective August 20, 2003; P.A. 07-142 amended Subsecs. (a), (b) and (d) to distinguish between procedures for complaints filed pursuant to Sec. 46a-82(a) or (b) and procedures for complaints filed pursuant to Sec. 46a-82(c), replaced “executive director of the commission or his designee” with “Chief Human Rights Referee” in Subsec. (b) and made technical changes, effective July 1, 2007; P.A. 11-237 amended Subsec. (d) by adding “the complainant” as a party who shall present the case if determined that the interests of the state will not be adversely affected; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 15-5 amended Subsec. (a) by adding provision re investigator's conclusion that conciliation has failed shall be conclusive on the issue, amended Subsec. (b) by redesignating existing provisions re certification or filing a complaint as Subdivs. (1) and (2), adding Subdiv. (3) re decision to hear a complaint, and making substantial revisions re responsibilities of chief referee upon filing of complaint, amended Subsec. (c) by replacing provision re place of hearing may be commission office or another place designated by commission with provision re place of hearing, hearing conference or settlement conference to be at commission's administrative office in Hartford unless parties mutually agree to alternative location, amended Subsec. (d) by substantially revising provisions re complaints requiring further investigation, amended Subsec. (e) by deleting references to hearing officer and hearing adjudicator re authority to supervise settlement endeavors, substituting “chief referee” for “commission” re authority for granting permission to engage in alternative dispute resolution endeavors and making technical changes, amended Subsec. (f) by substantially revising provisions re entry of default order when respondent fails to file written answer, and amended Subsec. (g) by deleting reference to hearing adjudicator; P.A. 19-16 added Subsec. (h) re inspection and copying of relevant and material records, papers and documents; P.A. 19-93 amended Subsec. (h) by deleting reference to federal law and added Subsec. (i) re appointment of magistrate to act as presiding officer; P.A. 21-109 amended Subsec. (b) to add reference to Sec. 46a-86a re service of complaint and notice by chief referee.