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 which are like, related to or growing out of the complaint. The commission's staff will receive evidence by resolution conference, interview, inspection of documents, 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) To carry out its impartial investigation, the commission's staff may issue requests for production, interrogatories, subpoenas, and subpoenas duces tecum. The provisions governing the form, content, response, production and objection to interrogatories, and requests for production in 6 AAC 30.510 apply. A party must mail the answers to interrogatories and responses to requests for production, or appear in response to a subpoena duces tecum, within 30 days after service unless the commission's staff grants an extension or modification for good cause shown. In addition, the following rules apply:

(1) the commission's staff shall notify the party to whom interrogatories or requests for production are directed that failure to answer 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 or requests for production at a later hearing on the complaint.

(2) if a complainant fails to answer 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 or produce, the commission's staff shall analyze the available evidence and determine whether the complaint is supported by substantial evidence; the staff may base a determination on inferences drawn from the failure to answer an interrogatory 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; 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 shall 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 will, in its discretion, employ temporary legal counsel to enforce its investigation process.

(4) if the respondent answers the interrogatories or requests for production before the executive director certifies that conciliation efforts have failed, the adverse determination will be withdrawn; the commissioners will remand the case to the commission's staff to complete the investigation.

(c) 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.

(d) 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.

History: Eff. 12/7/63, Register 13; am 11/2/74, Register 52; am 6/6/75, Register 54; am 1/14/77, Register 61; am 8/16/78, Register 67; am 5/2/79, Register 70; am 3/12/81, Register 77; am 8/9/84, Register 91; am 3/31/90, Register 113; am 7/3/96, Register 138

Authority: AS 18.80.050

Editor's note: 6 AAC 30.320(a) and (b)(3)(B) were based on 6 AAC 30.020; 6 AAC 30.320(b) (1), (b)(3)(A), and (b)(4) were based on 6 AAC 30.022(b) and (g), and 6 AAC 30.320(c) and (d) were based on 6 AAC 30.025 before 3/12/81. The history note to this section contains the history of 6 AAC 30.020, 6 AAC 30.022(b) and (g) and 6 AAC 30.025 before 3/12/81.

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