Effective 28 Aug 1992

213.077. Settlement and conciliation agreement — restrictions, procedure. — 1. During the period beginning with the filing of a complaint under section 213.075, and ending with the filing of a charge, setting of a complaint for hearing or dismissal of a complaint pursuant to the provisions of that section, the executive director and the commission staff shall, to the extent feasible, engage in settlement and/or conciliation with respect to the complaint. Any settlement and conciliation agreement negotiated during such period shall be an agreement between the complainant and respondent and shall be subject to approval by the executive director. Nothing said or done in the course of settlement or conciliation under this section shall be made public or used as evidence in any subsequent proceeding under this chapter, without the written consent of the complainant and respondent.

2. If a complaint has been filed pursuant to section 213.055, 213.065 or 213.070, alleging commission of an unlawful employment practice or discrimination in public accommodations:

(1) During investigation, the public shall not have access to records relating to the complaint, nor shall any information relating thereto be released to the public;

(2) During investigation, the complainant and respondent shall only have access to records they provided until the point at which disclosure is allowed at hearing, or if a request for civil action is made under section 213.111 for a right to or other legal proceedings pursuant to federal, state or local discrimination laws that require disclosure;

(3) Settlement agreements, executed during investigation shall be disclosed to the public only by agreement of the complainant and respondent;

(4) After closure of a complaint, the public may only have access to the complaint and closure documents by agreement of the complainant and respondent;

(5) Excluding a finding of probable cause, after an investigation closure, the complainant and respondent may have access to the investigative file except for sensitive or confidential records and records relating to witnesses who have requested anonymity. With respect to records that the commission has obtained from other government agencies, the commission will observe any statutory confidentiality provisions imposed on the originating agencies;

(6) A conciliation agreement shall be disclosed to the public only by agreement of the complainant and respondent;

(7) After failure of conciliation attempts, the complainant and respondent may have access to copies of the investigative file, except for sensitive or confidential records and records relating to witnesses who have requested anonymity;

(8) To achieve the purposes of this chapter, this subsection shall not apply to disclosure of information to representatives of interested federal, state or local civil or human rights agencies.

3. If a complaint is filed alleging violation of section 213.040, 213.045, 213.050, or 213.070, to the extent that the alleged violation of section 213.070 relates to or involves violations of one or more of the other above enumerated sections or relates to or involves the encouraging, aiding or abetting of violation of such sections:

(1) The public, complainant and respondent shall have access to records relating to the complaint in the same manner as set forth in subdivisions (1), (2), (4), (5), (7), and (8) of subsection 2 of this section;

(2) Any settlement or conciliation agreement entered into by the complainant and respondent shall be made public unless the parties thereto otherwise agree and the executive director determines that disclosure is not required to further the purpose of this chapter.

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(L. 1992 H.B. 1619)