2005 Connecticut Code - Sec. 46a-82e. Jurisdiction over complaints despite failure to comply with time requirements. Annual report. Delay in issuance of finding. Remedies. Court order.

      Sec. 46a-82e. Jurisdiction over complaints despite failure to comply with time requirements. Annual report. Delay in issuance of finding. Remedies. Court order. (a) Notwithstanding the failure of the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities to comply with the time requirements of sections 46a-83 and 46a-84 with respect to a complaint before the commission, the jurisdiction of the commission over any such complaint shall be retained.

      (b) The commission shall report annually to the judiciary committee of the General Assembly and the Governor: (1) The number of cases in the previous fiscal year that exceeded the time frame, including authorized extensions, set forth in subsection (d) of section 46a-83; (2) the reasons for the failure to comply with the time frame; (3) the number of actions brought pursuant to subsection (d) of this section and the results thereof; and (4) the commission's recommendations for legislative action, if any, necessary for the commission to meet the statutory time frame.

      (c) If a complaint has been pending for more than twenty-one months from the date of filing and the commission has not issued a finding of reasonable cause or no reasonable cause, the executive director shall send a notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, advising the complainant of his right to request a release of jurisdiction in accordance with section 46a-101. The executive director or his designee shall investigate the cause for the delay in issuing a finding. After such investigation, the executive director may, given the facts and circumstances of the case, schedule a date certain for issuance of a finding of reasonable cause or no reasonable cause.

      (d) (1) If a complaint has been pending for more than two years after the date of filing pursuant to section 46a-82, and if the investigator fails to issue a finding of reasonable cause or no reasonable cause by the date ordered by the executive director of the commission pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, the complainant or respondent may petition the superior court for the judicial district of Hartford for an order requiring the commission to issue a finding of reasonable cause or no reasonable cause by a date certain. The petitioner shall submit the petition on forms prescribed by the Office of the Chief Court Administrator.

      (2) The clerk, upon receipt of the petition and if the clerk finds it to be in the proper form, shall fix a date for the hearing and sign the notice of hearing. The hearing date shall be no more than thirty days after the clerk signs the notice. Service shall be made on the commission and all persons named in the discriminatory practice complaint at least twenty days prior to the date of hearing by United States mail, certified or registered, postage prepaid, return receipt requested, without the use of a state marshal or other officer. Service on the commission shall be made on the executive director of the commission or a commission legal counsel. Within five days of service, the petitioner shall file with the court an affidavit stating the date and manner in which a copy of the petition was served and attach to the affidavit the return receipts indicating delivery of the petition.

      (3) Within ten days after receipt of the petition, any party, including the commission, may file an answer. The commission and all persons named in the discriminatory practice complaint shall have the right to appear and be heard at the hearing.

      (4) If the commission and parties agree on a date certain, the court shall order the commission to issue a finding by said date. If the allegations of the petition are contested, the court shall hold a hearing on the petition and issue an appropriate order. Hearing of oral argument on the petition shall take precedence over other matters in the court, as provided in section 46a-96. The court shall award court costs and attorney's fees to the petitioner, provided such party is a "person", as defined in subsection (l) of section 4-184a, unless the commission shows good cause for not issuing the finding of reasonable cause or no reasonable cause within two years of the date of filing or the date ordered by the executive director for the investigator to issue such finding, whichever is later. An award of court costs and attorney's fees shall be subject to the court's discretion, but shall not exceed a total of five hundred dollars.

      (5) This subsection shall not apply to complaints initiated by the commission or to pattern or practice or systemic cases.

      (P.A. 88-230, S. 1, 12; P.A. 90-98, S. 1, 2; P.A. 93-142, S. 4, 7, 8; P.A. 95-220, S. 4-6; P.A. 98-245, S. 8, 14; P.A. 00-99, S. 89, 154; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, S. 192.)

      History: P.A. 98-245 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 (Revisor's note: P.A. 88-230, 90-98, 93-142 and 95-220 authorized substitution of "judicial district of Hartford" for "judicial district of Hartford-New Britain at Hartford" in public and special acts of the 1998 regular and special sessions of the General Assembly, effective September 1, 1998); P.A. 00-99 amended Subsec. (d)(2) by replacing reference to sheriff with state marshal, effective December 1, 2000; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6 amended Subsec. (d)(2) to replace "the commission counsel" with "a commission legal counsel", effective August 20, 2003.