6 AAC 30.320 - Investigation methods by commission staff before conciliation
(a) The
commission's staff will determine the nature and scope of the investigation.
The commission's staff will impartially obtain and analyze facts relevant to
the complaint and determine if the allegations are supported by substantial
evidence. During the investigation, the staff may also investigate matters that
are like, related to, or growing out of the complaint. The commission's staff
may obtain evidence by resolution conference, interview, inspection of
documents and premises, or examination of written submissions of parties and
witnesses. Any party or witness may offer a relevant statement or evidence for
consideration by the commission's staff.
(b) The commission's staff will conduct
interviews confidentially. Witnesses may not be accompanied during interviews
unless
(1) by a representative of the
respondent if the witness is a member of the respondent's control
group;
(2) by an attorney who has
entered an appearance before the commission on behalf of the witness;
(3) by a qualified, neutral language
interpreter selected by the commission's staff if the commission's staff
determines that the interpreter's presence will facilitate communication
between the witness and the interviewer;
(4) by a parent of a witness who is a
minor;
(5) by a guardian of the
witness if the witness lacks capacity to testify independently; or
(6) by another person identified by the
witness when such participation would constitute a reasonable accommodation for
the witness's disability.
(c) To carry out its impartial investigation,
the commission's staff may issue requests for production, interrogatories,
subpoenas, and subpoenas duces tecum. A party must mail the answers to
interrogatories and responses to requests for production not later than 30 days
after service unless the commission's staff grants an extension or modification
for good cause shown. The commission's staff may set reasonable times for
appearances in response to subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum. In addition,
the following rules apply:
(1) the
commission's staff shall notify the party to whom interrogatories, subpoenas
duces tecum, or requests for production are directed that failure to answer,
appear, or produce may result in an adverse determination by the staff on the
merits of the complaint and a loss of the right to offer evidence sought by the
interrogatories, subpoenas duces tecum, or requests for production at a later
hearing on the complaint;
(2) if a
complainant fails to answer, appear, or produce information necessary to reach
a determination on the merits of the complaint, the commission's staff shall
close the case;
(3) if a
respondent fails to answer, appear, or produce, the commission's staff shall
analyze the available evidence and determine whether the complaint is supported
by substantial evidence; the staff may seek enforcement of a subpoena or
subpoena duces tecum in superior court or it may base a determination on
inferences drawn from the failure to answer an interrogatory, appear, or
produce documents, and proceed as follows:
(A) if the complaint is supported by
substantial evidence, the commission's staff shall issue its determination in
writing and try to conciliate the complaint; if conciliation fails and a
hearing is convened, the hearing commissioners will not receive any evidence
that should have been offered in response to the interrogatories, subpoenas
duces tecum, or requests for production issued by the commission's
staff;
(B) if the complaint is not
supported by substantial evidence, the commission's staff may refer the refusal
to comply with a subpoena, subpoena duces tecum, request for production,
interrogatories, or other process to the Department of Law for appropriate
enforcement action in superior court; if the state is a respondent, the
commission may employ temporary legal counsel to enforce its investigation
process.
(d) No
party may serve interrogatories, requests for production, subpoenas, subpoenas
duces tecum, and other process on another party, on the commission's staff, or
on any other person before certification of conciliation failure by the
executive director. The commission's staff may issue process on any person at
the request of a party if the staff determines that the process is reasonably
necessary for an impartial investigation, determination, or conciliation of the
case.
(e) The commission's staff
may issue subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum to take the deposition of any
person as part of its impartial investigation. A deposition taken during an
investigation may be offered in evidence at a hearing convened under
6
AAC 30.410 -
6
AAC 30.497 if the party taking the deposition informs
the parties to the investigation and the person whose deposition is taken of
its intended use.
Notes
Authority:AS 18.80.050
AS 18.80.060
AS 18.80.075
AS 18.80.110
AS 18.80.120
AS 18.80.130
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