New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 9 - EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT › Subtitle J - Division of Human Rights › Part 465 - Rules Of Practice › Section 465.7 - Conciliation

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a) Endeavors.
(1) The division, may, at any time after the
				filing of the complaint, endeavor to eliminate the unlawful discriminatory
				practice complained of by conference, conciliation and persuasion.
(2) A conciliation proceeding, to be attended
				by the parties, should be convened in all appropriate cases by the division,
				prior to a determination after investigation, in an attempt to resolve the
				parties' differences. Reasonable adjournments of such conciliation proceeding
				may be given at the discretion of the investigator or the regional director.
				Failure of a party to attend the proceeding or cooperate with the investigator
				may result in a determination based on the material already in the record, with
				the party who absented him or herself for insufficient reasons barred from
				submitting additional evidence prior to the determination of cause or no
				cause.
(3) Offers of conciliation
				by respondent shall be reviewed by the regional director to determine whether
				such conciliation offer is substantial enough to require a determination, in
				the public interest, to terminate the proceeding, on notice to complainant, if
				the complainant unreasonably refuses to accept the conciliation. The following
				criteria are among those which should be considered:
(i) probability of success after full
				investigation;
(ii) reasonableness
				of offer;
(iii) reasonableness of
				complainant's refusal, if any;
(iv)
				the amount of the complainant's economic loss and respondent's degree of
				responsibility therefor;
(v) in
				appropriate cases, the evidence of the amount of complainant's mental pain and
				suffering;
(vi) the egregiousness
				of the discrimination charged; and
(vii) whether the public interest is best
				served by the continuation of the proceedings.
(4) Objections by a complainant to a proposed
				conciliation agreement must be written and shall be delivered or mailed within
				15 days of the service of the proposed agreement by the division upon
				complainant, or earlier, i.e., if made in the context of a conciliation
				proceeding where both parties or their representatives are present. If the
				agreement was served by mail, the time for objections shall be extended by five
				days. The objections shall be specific and in detail.
(5) Where the regional director finds the
				terms of the proposed conciliation agreement to be in the public interest, and
				that the complainant's objections to the proposed conciliation agreement are
				without substance, he or she may:
(i) dismiss
				the complaint for administrative convenience;
(ii) take other appropriate action pursuant
				to section
				297.3(c)  of
				the law; or
(iii) upon request of
				respondent, issue an recommended equitable order, for consideration by the
				commissioner, providing that the respondent will pay the complainant the amount
				proposed in the conciliation agreement and dismissing the complaint on the
				merits.
(6) A special
				conciliation calendar shall be maintained to schedule all pre-determination
				conciliations.
(7) Notice of
				conciliation hearings shall be accompanied by a statement advising complainant
				of a possible waiting period before the case is heard by an administrative law
				judge, based upon then current division statistics, updated every six
				months.