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<baltimore-city-law heading="§ 4-3 Hearings.">
  <section prefix="§" num="4-3" heading="Hearings.">
    <para num="(a)" heading="Certification to Chair.">In case of failure to reach an agreement for the elimination of such unlawful practice, and upon the entry of findings to that effect, the entire file, including the complaint and any and all findings made, shall be certified to the Chairman of the Commission.</para>
    <para num="(b)" heading="Designation of hearing examiner; notice to respondent.">A hearing examiner who shall not be a member of the Commission shall be designated to hear the complaint and shall cause to be issued and served in the name of the Commission a written notice, together with a copy of the complaint, as the same may have been amended, and a copy of the findings of fact, requiring the respondent to answer the charges of the complaint at a public hearing before the hearing examiner, at a time and place to be specified in the notice.</para>
    <para num="(c)" heading="Answer; attendance at hearing.">The respondent may file a written answer to the complaint and appear at the hearing in person or otherwise, with or without counsel, and submit testimony and be fully heard and otherwise examine and cross-examine witnesses.</para>
    <para num="(d)" heading="Amendments; testimony.">
      <para num="(1)">The hearing examiner conducting any hearing may permit reasonable amendment to any complaint or answer.</para>
      <para num="(2)">Testimony at the hearing shall be under oath and recorded.</para>
    </para>
    <para num="(e)" heading="Decision and order.">
      <para num="(1)">After hearing all the evidence, the hearing examiner shall recommend a decision and an order to be approved by the Commission.</para>
      <para num="(2)">The Commission shall issue and cause to be served on such respondent an order requiring such respondent to:<para num="(i)">cease and desist from such unlawful practice; and</para>
        <para num="(ii)">take such affirmative action including (but not limited to) hiring, reinstatement, or upgrading of employees with or without back pay, the sale or rental of the dwelling sought by the complainant, or a similar dwelling, restoration to membership in any respondent labor organization, admission to or participation in a guidance program, apprenticeship training program, on-the-job training program or other occupational training or retraining program, where such programs are an established part of an employer’s labor policy, the extension of fair and equal advantages, facilities and privileges to all persons as required by the provisions of &lt;cite data-path="|4"&gt;this article&lt;/cite&gt;, awarding of compensatory damages to the person aggrieved by such practice, as, in the judgment of the Commission, will effectuate the purposes of &lt;cite data-path="|4"&gt;this article&lt;/cite&gt;.</para>
      </para>
      <para num="(3)">Compensatory damages may include compensation for humiliation, embarrassment, and emotional distress, for expenses incurred in obtaining alternate housing accommodations, and for other expenses incurred by an aggrieved person as a direct result of any unlawful discriminatory practice.</para>
      <para num="(4)">For a violation of any provision of § 3-5, the Commission may also impose a civil penalty of not more than $1,000, and each day that a violation continues constitutes a separate offense, with maximum amounts assessable as follows:<para num="(i)">in an amount not exceeding $10,000, if the respondent has not been adjudged to have committed any prior discriminatory housing practice;</para>
        <para num="(ii)">in an amount not exceeding $25,000, if the respondent has been adjudged to have committed 1 other discriminatory housing practice during the 5-year period ending on the date of the filing of this complaint; and</para>
        <para num="(iii)">in an amount not exceeding $50,000, if the respondent has been adjudged to have committed 2 or more discriminatory housing practices during the 7-year period ending on the date of the filing of this complaint;
except that if the acts constituting the discriminatory housing practice that is the object of the complaint are committed by the same natural person who has been previously adjudged to have committed acts constituting a discriminatory housing practice, then the civil penalties set forth in subparagraphs (ii) and (iii) may be imposed without regard to the period of time within which any subsequent discriminatory housing practice occurred.</para>
      </para>
    </para>
    <para num="(f)" heading="Standard of proof for monetary awards.">
      <para num="(1)">Any award made for damages compensable under &lt;cite data-path="|4"&gt;this article&lt;/cite&gt; shall be made only upon reasonable and competent evidence that the damages resulted from the respondent’s unlawful discriminatory act or practice.</para>
      <para num="(2)">Any award made for expenses compensable under &lt;cite data-path="|4"&gt;this article&lt;/cite&gt; shall be made only upon the production of documentary evidence of such expenses, including but not limited to bills, receipts, canceled checks, and invoices.  An award for any other compensable damages may be made on reasonable and credible testimony and evidence.</para>
    </para>
    <para num="(g)" heading="Rules and regulations.">Subject to Title 4 {“Administrative Procedure Act – Regulations”} of the &lt;cite data-path="|general"&gt;City General Provisions Article&lt;/cite&gt;, the Commission may adopt administrative and procedural rules and regulations governing hearings before the hearing examiners.</para>
    <annotation type="Prior Codifications">City Code, 1966, art. 4, §19</annotation>
    <annotation type="Prior Codifications">1976/83, art. 4, §19(a) - (f)</annotation>
    <annotation type="History">Ord. 64-103</annotation>
    <annotation type="History">Ord. 77-590</annotation>
    <annotation type="History">Ord. 87-981</annotation>
    <annotation type="History">Ord. 90-423</annotation>
    <annotation type="History">Text Conformed 02/12/21</annotation>
    <annotation type="Editor's Notes">By authority of Ordinance 20-431, Section 5, the Director of Legislative Reference, in consultation with the Law Department, has conformed the text of subsection (g) to refer expressly to the requirements of the recently-enacted Administrative Procedure Act that, effective January 15, 2021, governs the proposal, adoption, and publication of administrative rules and regulations.</annotation>
  </section>
</baltimore-city-law>
