S-0737.1 _______________________________________________
SENATE BILL 5600
_______________________________________________
State of Washington 53rd Legislature 1993 Regular Session
By Senators Moore, Newhouse, Vognild, Anderson, Amondson, Prince, Prentice and Winsley
Read first time 02/04/93. Referred to Committee on Labor & Commerce.
AN ACT Relating to industrial insurance appeals; and amending RCW 51.52.100.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 51.52.100 and 1982 c 109 s 8 are each amended to read as follows:
Hearings shall be held in the county of the
residence of the worker or beneficiary, or in the county where the injury
occurred, at a place designated by the board. ((Such)) The
hearing shall be de novo and summary, but no witness' testimony shall be received
unless he or she ((shall)) has first ((have)) been sworn
to testify the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth in the matter
being heard, or unless his or her testimony ((shall have)) has
been taken by deposition according to the statutes and rules relating to
superior courts of this state. The department ((shall be)) is
entitled to appear in all proceedings before the board and introduce testimony
in support of its order. The board shall cause all oral testimony to be
stenographically reported and ((thereafter)) transcribed, and when
transcribed, the ((same)) testimony, with all depositions, shall
be filed in, and remain a part of, the record on the appeal. ((Such)) Hearings
on appeal to the board may be conducted by one or more of its members((,))
or a duly authorized industrial appeals judge, and depositions may be taken by
a person ((duly)) commissioned for the purpose by the board.
Members of the board, its ((duly))
authorized industrial appeals judges, and all persons ((duly)) commissioned
by it for the purpose of taking depositions((, shall)) have power to
administer oaths; to preserve and enforce order during ((such))
hearings; to issue subpoenas for, and to compel the attendance and testimony
of, witnesses, ((or)) the production of books, papers, documents, and
other evidence, or the taking of depositions before any designated individual
competent to administer oaths, and it shall be their duty so to do to examine
witnesses; and to do all things conformable to law which may be necessary to
enable them((, or any of them, effectively)) to effectively
discharge the duties of ((his or her)) office.
Once a deposition has been filed with the board and published, it shall be made available to any of the parties upon request. Once a transcript of any portion of the proceedings has been filed with the board, a copy shall be made available to any party upon request. The board shall have twenty days to provide copies.
If any person in proceedings before the board
disobeys or resists any lawful order or process, ((or)) misbehaves
during a hearing or so near the place ((thereof)) of a hearing as
to obstruct ((the same, or)) the hearing, neglects to produce,
after having been ordered so to do, any pertinent book, paper or document, ((or))
refuses to appear after having been subpoenaed, ((or)) upon appearing
refuses to take oath as a witness, or after having the oath refuses to be
examined according to law, the board or any member or ((duly))
authorized industrial appeals judge may certify the facts to the superior court
having jurisdiction in the place in which ((said)) the board or
member or industrial appeals judge is sitting((;)). The court
shall ((thereupon)), in a summary manner, hear the evidence as to the
acts complained of, and, if the evidence so warrants, punish ((such)) the
person in the same manner and to the same extent as for a contempt committed
before the court((,)) or commit ((such)) the person upon
the same conditions as if the doing of the forbidden act had occurred with
reference to the proceedings, or in the presence, of the court.
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