CASE PROCESSING PROCEDURES; EVIDENCE – Witnesses: Credibility, Cross Examination and Impeachment; Pretrial Statements

Single Topic for Decision 2514E


View all topics for Decision 2514E

Full Decision Text (click on the link to view): Full Text

1105.00000 – CASE PROCESSING PROCEDURES; EVIDENCE
1105.14000 – Witnesses: Credibility, Cross Examination and Impeachment; Pretrial Statements

Due process and fair proceedings required by statutory, regulatory and decisional law preclude PERB from resolving material factual disputes or making credibility determinations in the absence of a formal hearing or stipulated record. (p. 3, fn. 6.) Although the charging party had several medical restrictions that would require modifying the schedule of a hearing, for example, by taking frequent breaks, so that she is not required to sit or stand for more than one hour at a time, such modifications are not inherently unreasonable, nor unprecedented in PERB proceedings where necessary to accommodate a party’s medical condition. (38-39.) Even assuming a full hearing on the merits was impractical or impossible in this case because of the charging party’s medical condition, at minimum, a hearing on the disputed facts underlying the District’s motion to dismiss and its laches defense was necessary before dismissing the case. Alternatively, PERB Regulations authorize a hearing officer to order any person, including a party or material witness who is unable to attend a hearing because of illness or infirmity, to be deposed to ensure that oral testimony is subject to cross examination. (pp. 35-36.)