465 R.I. Code R. 465-RICR-10-00-1.8

Current through November 7, 2024

Section 465-RICR-10-00-1.8 - Hearings: General Requirements

A. Requirements for Hearings

1. The Board may conduct informal and formal hearings. An informal hearing shall be conducted in accordance with the procedure set forth in § 1.9 of this Part.

2. A formal hearing, for the purpose of taking testimony upon a Complaint, or upon a Complaint and Answer, or upon a Petition for investigation and certification, shall be conducted by the Board in accordance with § 1.10 of this Part, if the Complaint or Petition has not been dismissed after investigation and/or informal hearing(s).

B. Pre-Hearing Requirement to Meet and Confer - Exhibits

1. Each party of record intending to submit exhibits during a formal hearing process shall be required to meet and confer with the opposing party's representative for the purpose of exchanging and marking exhibits.

2. Upon conclusion of the party's dialogue, the parties shall pre-mark and pre-identify all exhibits accordingly, to wit: petitioner 1, respondent 1, joint, objection, or no objection to an exhibit; and record all exhibits to be entered into the record on the Formal Hearing Exhibit form.

a. The Formal Hearing Exhibit form may be obtained on the Board's website at www.rislrb.ri.gov.

3. The requesting party shall then submit the Formal Hearing Exhibit form to the Board's Administrator, through the Electronic Document Management System, no less than five (5) business days prior to the commencement of the formal hearing process.

4. All said copies of exhibits as enumerated in accordance with § 1.10(F) of this Part, shall be submitted at the commencement of the formal hearing process.

5. Parties who fail to comply with the Board's directives may be sanctioned in accordance with § 1.10(C) of this Part.

6. The filing of the Formal Hearing Exhibit form, prior to the formal hearing, shall not constitute acceptance into evidence by the Board or any admission by the other party of relevance, accuracy or materiality. The opposing party retains the right to object to any contested exhibit(s), at which time the Chairperson will rule on the admissibility of all contested exhibits.

C. Failure to Comply with Orders of the Board; Hearings; Pre-Hearing Directives; Discovery

1. Any complaining or petitioning party that fails, without good cause, to comply with any order of the Board, its Administrator or Agent to participate in, or appear at, any conference or hearing, pre-hearing directives, or who fails to, or refuses to comply with discovery requests, may be sanctioned by the Board, as set forth by § 1.10(C) of this Part.

D. Rules of Evidence

1. Irrelevant, immaterial, or unduly repetitious evidence shall be excluded from the record.

2. The rules of evidence, as applied in civil cases in the Superior Court of this State, shall be followed; however, when it is necessary to ascertain facts not reasonably susceptible of proof under those rules, evidence not admitted under those rules may be submitted (except where precluded by statute), if it is of a type commonly relied upon by reasonable, prudent persons in the conduct of their affairs.

3. The rules of privilege, recognized by law, shall be given effect by the Board.

4. Objections to evidential offers may be made and shall be noted in the record.

5. Subject to these requirements, when a hearing will be expedited and the interests of the parties will not be prejudiced substantially, any part of the evidence may be received in written form. Notice may be taken of judicially cognizable facts. Rigid compliance with the Rules of Civil Procedure shall not be required, and the Board shall have discretion to apply the rules liberally in order to effectuate full and fair hearings.

E. Powers and Duties of the Board at Hearings

1. During the course of any hearing, the Board shall have the full authority to control the conduct and procedure of the hearings, and the records thereof, to admit or exclude testimony or other evidence, and to rule upon all Motions and objections made during the course of the hearing. It shall be the duty of the Board to see that a full inquiry is made into all the facts in issue, and to obtain a full and complete record of all facts necessary for a fair determination of the issues.

2. In any hearing, the Board shall have the right to call and examine witnesses, to direct the production of papers or documents, and to introduce into the record said papers or documents. The Board, as set forth by § 1.10(C) of this Part, may sanction any party who, without good cause fails or refuses to comply with a Board directive.

F. Rights of Parties at Hearings

1. The informal hearing process is a fact-finding procedure; therefore, only the representative of record for the parties shall present their case during the informal hearing process.

2. There shall be no testimony taken from witnesses during the informal hearing process; all documentation presented during the informal hearing process shall not be accepted as exhibits, nor entered into the record. Attendance is limited to the parties of record during the informal hearing process.

3. However, during the formal hearing process, all parties shall have the right to call, examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce into the record, papers and documents, or other evidence, subject to the ruling of the Board. Such formal hearings shall be open to the public.

G. Hearings; Stipulations

1. At a hearing, stipulations may be introduced into evidence with respect to any issue, where all parties have joined such stipulation.

H. Continuation of Hearings

1. At the discretion of the Board, the Administrator or its Agent, hearings may be continued from day to day, or adjourned to a later date, or to a different location, and manner, by announcement thereof, at the hearing by the Board, its Administrator or Agent, or by other appropriate notice designated by the Board, its Administrator or Agent.

I. Contemptuous Conduct at Hearings

1. Any person who engages in contemptuous conduct before the Board, or its Administrator or Agent, may, in the discretion of the Board, its Administrator or Agent, be excluded from the hearing room or further participation in the proceeding.

J. Waiver of Hearing; Entry of Consent Order

1. Nothing in these general Rules and Regulations shall prevent the entry of a Consent Order by the parties' representatives of record prior to the commencement of the formal hearing process. Both parties shall agree to waive the scheduled formal hearing when the making of the findings of fact and conclusions of law are acknowledged.

2. The Consent Order shall be submitted to the Board in lieu of the formal hearing process. The hearing process shall be cancelled upon receipt of the Consent Order; and the matter shall be set down for review and determination on the next applicable monthly Board Meeting Agenda. When filing the Consent Order with the Board, the parties shall submit an original, signed in blue ink, in accordance with § 1.5 of this Part.

3. Said submission of the Consent Order shall be submitted to the Board no later than five (5) business days prior to the commencement of the formal hearing; in accordance with § 1.8(L)(2)(a) ((9)) of this Part.

4. Upon determination of said matter by the Board, the Administrator or its Agent shall notify the parties in writing, of the results of the Board's actions.

5. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Board shall retain jurisdiction of the matter and may reject the Consent Order, if the same is determined by the Board to be in violation of applicable law.

K. Application for Leave to Reopen a Hearing on Grounds of Newly Discovered Evidence

1. No Motion for Leave to Reopen a Hearing because of newly discovered evidence shall be entertained unless it is shown that such additional evidence is material, that the Motion has been timely made, and that there were reasonable grounds for the failure to adduce such evidence at the hearing. Nothing contained in this section shall be deemed to limit the right and power of the Board, in its discretion, and on its own Motion, to reopen a hearing and take further testimony.

L. Requests for Postponement or Cancellation of Hearings

1. Informal Hearings

a. All requests for postponements shall be made no later than five (5) business days after receipt of the notice of hearing, except in the case of an extreme emergency or circumstance;

b. Each party shall be limited to one (1) postponement per matter. Postponements shall only be granted if there is a showing of sufficient cause. Should a party find that it has exhausted its postponement requests, it will be the obligation of the party to have an appropriate representative available to proceed;

c. A party requesting a postponement shall be required to contact the Board's Administrator or its Agent, by telephone, prior to the submission of the written request for approval of the postponement. Only the Board's Administrator or its Agent may grant postponements. Parties to the hearing shall not postpone hearings without permission from the Administrator or its Agent of the Board.

d. The request must be in writing and shall state, with specificity, the reason for the postponement. Copies of the request must be served by electronic transmission (e-mail) simultaneously to any opposing parties' representative of record, with a copy (Cc) to the Board's Administrator and must certify the same therein.

e. If all parties fail to appear at a duly scheduled informal hearing, without good cause and notification to the Board's offices, or if the parties together agree to postpone the hearing without first receiving approval from the Board or its Administrator or Agent, then the matter pending may be administratively dismissed;

f. In the case of a Petition for Unit Clarification and/or Accretion/Exclusion, if only the petitioner has failed to appear at the informal hearing without notice or good cause, the matter may be administratively dismissed and shall not be re-filed for a one (1) year period; and

g. In the case of an Unfair Labor Practice Charge, if only the charging party has failed to comply with the designated informal hearing process without notice or good cause, the matter may be administratively dismissed and shall not be re-filed.

2. Formal Hearings

a. Unless otherwise ordered or permitted by the Board, its Administrator or Agent, all formal hearings shall be held at a date, time, location, and in such a manner contained in the Notice of Hearing. Each party shall be limited to one (1) postponement per matter. Postponements shall only be granted if there is a showing of sufficient cause and the following requirements are met:

(1) The request must be in writing, and received in the offices of the Board no later than five (5) business days after receipt of the notice of hearing;

(2) The request must set forth the grounds for the request in detail;

(3) The position(s) of all other parties of record must be ascertained in advance and set forth in the request;

(4) Copies of the request shall be served by electronic transmission (e-mail) simultaneously upon all other parties, with a copy (Cc) to the Board's Administrator and must certify the same therein;

(5) No request for postponement will be considered unless all of the preceding four (4) requirements have been met;

(6) No request for postponement shall be granted during the five (5) business days preceding the date for hearing, except in the case of an extreme emergency or circumstance;

(7) Postponements of formal hearings may result in at least a one (1) month delay;

(8) When requests for postponements have been denied, it will be the obligation of the party to have an appropriate representative available to proceed; and

(9) Should a withdrawal of a pending case or an entry of a Consent Order result in the cancellation of a formal hearing, the request for cancellation must be submitted no later than five (5) business days prior to the commencement of the formal hearing. Parties requesting a cancellation of a formal hearing without proper notification may be required to pay the administrative costs associated therewith.

465 R.I. Code R. 465-RICR-10-00-1.8

Amended effective 2/1/2021