2. Equal Rights
3. Civil Rights
4. Discrimination
5. Information Sheet for Employment Cases

Information Sheet for Employment Cases

This page was formerly named ERD-12437-P (Revised: 08/2016)

Please read this carefully. It contains information about your rights and obligations in hearings before the Equal Rights Division.

By no later than ten (10) days before the date of the hearing, each party must send the other party – and file with the Division – a list of any witnesses and copies of any documents they may want to use at the hearing. If a witness or document is not disclosed 10 days before the hearing, you will not be able use that witness or document for your case. Do not send us original documents. All incoming documents are scanned, saved electronically, and then shredded.

The person responding to the complaint must answer within twenty-one (21) days after the date of a notice of Hearing on the Merits of the complaint. They must admit, deny, explain, or state lack of knowledge as to each allegation in the complaint. All affirmative defenses (for example, that the complaint was not timely filed) should be filed in writing within that 21-day period or they may be considered waived.

The Division will not provide you with an attorney. If you plan on having an attorney represent you at the hearing, you should obtain one now. Attorneys need time to prepare a case for hearing. The Division will not normally postpone a hearing because a party wants to keep looking for an attorney or because their attorney needs more time to prepare. The Division can provide you with a list of private attorneys who have stated a willingness to take cases in this area. Parties are expected to advise the Division as soon as they obtain an attorney.

Postponements of the hearing date will be granted only for good cause and not for the mere convenience of the parties or their attorneys. If your schedule conflicts with the hearing date in the Notice of Hearing, you must notify the Division within ten (10) days after the date of the notice that you need a different date. After this 10-day period, postponements will normally only be granted for unforeseeable emergency circumstances that will prevent a party from presenting their case on the scheduled hearing date. You should assume that the hearing will take all day and should not schedule anything else on that date.

The parties may engage in pre-hearing discovery. The Division allows discovery by methods such as depositions, written interrogatories, and requests to produce documents. Any party seeking discovery from a party that does not have an attorney must let the Division know that it is taking discovery and must file discovery requests and responses with the Division.

If you are scheduled for a hearing on the issue of probable cause you should know that a finding of PROBABLE CAUSE after the hearing would result in the case being set for a hearing on the merits of the complaint at a later date. If, however, NO PROBABLE CAUSE is found as to any claim after the hearing on the issue of probable cause, that claim will be dismissed. This dismissal can be appealed if it is a final decision.

If this case is settled, please contact the Equal Rights Division immediately. A copy of these rules is being sent to you with this information sheet. Please read these rules so that you understand the hearing process better.

The Division has rules that detail most of the procedures before, at and after the hearing. A copy of these rules is being sent to you with this information sheet. Please read these rules so that you understand the hearing process better.

Please keep this information sheet for future reference.  If you have any questions, contact the Administrative Law Judge assigned to this case.