(a) Notwithstanding the failure of the commission to comply with the time requirements of section 46a-83 or 46a-84, the jurisdiction of the commission or the Superior Court over any such complaint shall be retained.

(b) The commission shall report annually to the judiciary committee of the General Assembly and the Governor: (1) The number of cases in the previous fiscal year that exceeded the time frame, including authorized extensions, set forth in subsection (g) of section 46a-83; (2) the reasons for the failure to comply with the time frame; (3) the number of actions brought pursuant to subsection (d) of this section and the results thereof; and (4) the commission's recommendations for legislative action, if any, necessary for the commission to meet the statutory time frame.

(c) If a complaint has been pending for more than twenty-one months from the date of filing and the commission has not issued a finding of reasonable cause or no reasonable cause, the executive director shall notify the complainant as provided in section 46a-86a, that the complainant has the right to request a release of jurisdiction in accordance with section 46a-101. The executive director or the executive director's designee shall investigate the cause for the delay in issuing a finding. After such investigation, the executive director may, given the facts and circumstances of the case, set a date for issuance of a finding.

(d) (1) If a complaint has been pending for more than two years after the date of filing pursuant to section 46a-82, and if the investigator fails to issue a finding of reasonable cause or no reasonable cause by the date ordered by the executive director pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, the complainant or respondent may petition the superior court for the judicial district of Hartford for an order requiring the commission to issue a finding by a specified date. The petitioner shall submit the petition on forms prescribed by the Office of the Chief Court Administrator.

(2) The clerk, upon receipt of the petition and if the clerk finds it to be in the proper form, shall fix a date for the hearing and sign the notice of hearing. The hearing date shall be no more than thirty days after the clerk signs the notice. Service shall be made on the commission and all persons named in the discriminatory practice complaint at least twenty days prior to the date of hearing by United States mail, certified or registered, postage prepaid, return receipt requested, without the use of a state marshal or other officer. Service on the commission shall be made on the executive director. Not later than five days after the date of service, the petitioner shall file with the court an affidavit stating the date and manner in which a copy of the petition was served and attach to the affidavit the return receipts indicating delivery of the petition.

(3) Not later than ten days after the date of receipt of the petition, any party, including the commission, may file an answer. The commission and all persons named in the discriminatory practice complaint shall have the right to appear and be heard at the hearing.

(4) If the commission and parties agree on a date, the court shall order the commission to issue a finding by such date. If the allegations of the petition are contested, the court shall hold a hearing and issue an appropriate order. Hearings held pursuant to this subdivision shall take precedence over other matters in the court, as provided in section 46a-96. The court shall award court costs and attorney's fees to the petitioner, provided the petitioner is a “person”, as defined in section 4-184a, unless the commission shows good cause for not issuing the finding of reasonable cause or no reasonable cause by the date ordered by the executive director for the investigator to issue such finding. An award of court costs and attorney's fees shall be subject to the court's discretion, but shall not exceed a total of five hundred dollars.

(5) This subsection shall not apply to complaints initiated by the commission or to pattern or practice or systemic cases.

(P.A. 88-230, S. 1, 12; P.A. 90-98, S. 1, 2; P.A. 93-142, S. 4, 7, 8; P.A. 95-220, S. 4–6; P.A. 98-245, S. 8, 14; P.A. 00-99, S. 89, 154; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, S. 192; P.A. 05-288, S. 156; P.A. 11-237, S. 4, 5; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 15-5, S. 75.)

History: P.A. 98-245 effective July 1, 1998, and applicable to all cases pending with the commission or in the courts and cases filed on or after said date (Revisor's note: P.A. 88-230, 90-98, 93-142 and 95-220 authorized substitution of “judicial district of Hartford” for “judicial district of Hartford-New Britain at Hartford” in public and special acts of the 1998 regular and special sessions of the General Assembly, effective September 1, 1998); P.A. 00-99 amended Subsec. (d)(2) by replacing reference to sheriff with state marshal, effective December 1, 2000; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6 amended Subsec. (d)(2) to replace “the commission counsel” with “a commission legal counsel”, effective August 20, 2003; P.A. 05-288 made a technical change in Subsec. (d)(4), effective July 13, 2005; P.A. 11-237 amended Subsec. (b)(1) by replacing “subsection (d)” with “subsection (e)” re reference to Sec. 46a-83 and amended Subsec. (c) by replacing provision re sending notice by certified mail with provision re notification by “first class mail, facsimile machine, electronic mail or a file transfer protocol site” and by making a technical change; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 15-5 amended Subsec. (a) by substituting “commission” for “Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities”, substituting “time requirements of section 46a-83 or 46a-84” for “time requirements of sections 46a-83 and 46a-84 with respect to a complaint before the commission,” and adding “or the Superior Court” re retention of jurisdiction over complaint, amended Subsec. (b)(1) by substituting reference to Sec. 46a-83(g) for reference to Sec. 46a-83(e), amended Subsec. (c) by substituting “as provided in section 46a-86a” for “by first class mail, facsimile machine, electronic mail or a file transfer protocol site”, amended Subsec. (d)(2) by deleting reference to commission legal counsel, amended Subsec. (d)(4) by substantially revising provisions re court hearings held in connection with petition filed by complainant or respondent due to commission's failure to timely dispose of discriminatory practice complaint, and made technical changes.