N.J. Admin. Code § 12:235-8.4

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 24, December 18, 2024

Section 12:235-8.4 - Investigation of discrimination complaints; appeal procedures

(a) Subject to the discretion of the Commissioner of Labor, the Director/Chief Judge shall supervise the investigation and review of discrimination complaints filed under N.J.S.A. 34:15-39.1.

(b) No discrimination complaint shall be accepted by the Division of Workers' Compensation unless filed with the Director/Chief Judge within 180 days of the date of the last act of alleged discrimination.

(c) Upon receipt of a sworn complaint alleging a violation of N.J.S.A. 34:15-39.1 the Division of Workers' Compensation shall transmit a copy of the complaint to the named employer within 14 days thereafter.

(d) The named employer shall file an answer to the complaint, under oath, with the Division of Workers' Compensation within 14 days of the employer's receipt of the complaint.

(e) The named employer, for good cause, may request from the Division of Workers' Compensation an additional period of not more than 30 days to file an answer to the discrimination charge.

(f) Upon receipt of the employer's answer, the Division will transmit a copy of the answer to the complainant. The complainant will be allowed 14 days to respond to the answer in writing. At the end of the 14 day period the record will be closed unless the Division requests additional submissions from the parties or allows additional time, for good cause shown, for the parties to respond.

(g) The Director/Chief Judge shall review the submission of the parties and determine if the complaint should be affirmed, dismissed or determined to be a contested case and forwarded to the Office of Administrative Law for hearing. The Director/Chief Judge shall render his or her decision within 90 days after the filing of a discrimination complaint or 30 days of the last evidentiary submission from the parties, whichever is later. If the complaint is affirmed, the decision will be transmitted to the Commissioner of Labor for imposition of penalties and such other relief authorized pursuant to N.J.S.A. 34:15-39.1 and 34:15-39.2.

(h) Any individual who disagrees with the decision of the Director may submit to the Division a written request for a formal hearing to be held in accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act, N.J.S.A. 52:14B-1 et seq., N.J.S.A. 52:14F-1 et seq., and the Uniform Administrative Procedure Rules, N.J.A.C. 1:1 within 20 days from the date of the receipt of the Director's decision, by the party seeking the appeal.

N.J. Admin. Code § 12:235-8.4

Amended by R.1991 d.466, effective 9/3/1991.
See: 23 New Jersey Register 1759(a), 23 New Jersey Register 2642(a).
Investigation to be forwarded in 90 days.
Amended by R.1993 d.51, effective 1/19/1993.
See: 24 New Jersey Register 1684(a), 24 New Jersey Register 3090(a), 25 New Jersey Register 313(b).
Added new (b)-(d); revised section heading.
Amended by R.1994 d.431, effective 8/15/1994.
See: 26 New Jersey Register 1591(b), 26 New Jersey Register 3459(a).
Amended by R.1997 d.110, effective 3/3/1997.
See: 28 New Jersey Register 4067(a), 29 New Jersey Register 799(a).
Rewrote (a) and (b); inserted new (c) through (g); recodified former (c) as (h); and in (h), amended time for requesting a formal hearing and inserted text "by the party seeking the appeal".
Petition for rulemaking.
See: 33 New Jersey Register 135(a), 33 New Jersey Register 331(a).