Decision A404H – Trustees of the California State University (East Bay)

PERB's procedure for requesting disqualification of a board agent specifically requires that the request for disqualification or recusal be filed prior to the taking of evidence in an evidentiary hearing. The Board will not treat a request that an ALJ disqualify himself as a “request for special permission” when the request is not made prior to the taking of evidence at the formal hearing. Where a claim of prejudice or bias by a Board agent does not arise until the evidentiary hearing itself, the appeal procedures set forth in subdivision (d) of PERB Regulation 32155 do not apply. If an ALJ proposed decision is adverse to a charging party, the charging party may file exceptions to it, including an exception based on a claim that remarks made by the ALJ during the formal hearing demonstrate the ALJ’s alleged prejudice against the charging party.