Washington Administrative Code › Title 162 - Human Rights Commission › Chapter 162-08 - Practice and procedure › V - ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS BEFORE AN ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE › Section 162-08-288 - Parties

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1)
Who are
			parties.
The parties to the hearing shall be the commission, through its
			counsel presenting the case in support of the complaint, a complainant or
			aggrieved person under
			RCW
			   49.60.040(15) who has filed
			a notice of independent appearance under WAC
			162-08-261, the respondent or
			respondents named in the notice of hearing or an amended notice of hearing, and
			any other person who moves to intervene and is permitted to do so by order of
			the administrative law judge.
(2)
Adding parties.
Any party may move to join an additional party or
			parties. The motion must be directed to the administrative law judge. If the
			motion is granted, the administrative law judge shall cause to be issued an
			amended notice of hearing showing the addition of the party or parties and
			making such other provisions as are appropriate for an orderly
			hearing.
(3)
Substituting
			parties.
If death, incompetency, transfer of interest, or other
			occurrence should make the substitution of parties necessary or desirable, the
			administrative law judge may make the substitution by order. The administrative
			law judge may act on his or her own motion, or on motion of a party or of the
			person asking to be substituted for a party.
(4)
Intervention.
A person
			claiming an interest in the subject matter of the hearing may move to
			intervene. The motion must be directed to the administrative law judge. The
			administrative law judge shall grant or deny the motion as a matter of
			discretion.
(5)
Factors
			considered.
The administrative law judge in ruling on a motion to add a
			party shall be guided by whether the presence of the party will be helpful in
			carrying out the purposes of the law against discrimination (compare WAC
			162-08-061). In addition, the
			administrative law judge shall consider whether adding the party will cause
			unnecessary delay or will divert the hearing from the objectives of the statute
			and of the commission's amended complaint. The administrative law judge need
			not follow court rules or precedents on the joinder of parties.
(6)
Not class actions.
Hearings
			under RCW
			   49.60.250 are not class actions, in the
			technical sense of that term in court practice. The commission, presenting the
			case in support of a complaint, may ask that a respondent be ordered to pay
			back pay or to afford other relief to all persons injured by an unfair
			practice, and the administrative law judge may issue such an order to carry out
			the purposes of the law against discrimination (WAC
			162-08-298(6)).
			If such an order is made, the right to have the payments made will belong to
			the commission, not to the injured persons (WAC
			162-08-305). The legal rights of
			persons of the class alleged to have been injured are not at issue in the case,
			and those persons are not bound by the administrative law judge's decision
			unless they accept the benefits of it in full satisfaction of their potential
			claims. Only the commission and the respondent and other persons named as
			parties are bound by the order of an administrative law judge.
Statutory Authority:
				RCW
				49.60.120(3) and
				49.60.240. 96-13-045, §
											162-08-288, filed 6/13/96,
				effective 7/14/96. Statutory Authority:
				RCW
				49.60.120(3). 89-23-020,
				§
											162-08-288, filed 11/7/89,
				effective 12/8/89; Order 35, §
											162-08-288, filed
				9/2/77.