§ 14.47   Discovery.

   Link to an amendment published at  83 FR 44843 , September 4, 2018.

   (a) A complainant may file with the Commission and serve on a
   defendant, concurrently with its complaint, a request for up to ten
   written interrogatories. A defendant may file with the Commission and
   serve on a complainant, during the period starting with the service of
   the complaint and ending with the service of its answer, a request for
   up to ten written interrogatories. A complainant may file with the
   Commission and serve on a defendant, within three calendar days of
   service of the defendant's answer, a request for up to five written
   interrogatories. Subparts of any interrogatory will be counted as
   separate interrogatories for purposes of compliance with this limit.
   Requests for interrogatories filed and served pursuant to this
   procedure may be used to seek discovery of any non-privileged matter
   that is relevant to the material facts in dispute in the pending
   proceeding, provided, however, that requests for interrogatories filed
   and served by a complainant after service of the defendant's answer
   shall be limited in scope to specific factual allegations made by the
   defendant in support of its affirmative defenses. This procedure may
   not be employed for the purpose of delay, harassment or obtaining
   information that is beyond the scope of permissible inquiry related to
   the material facts in dispute in the pending proceeding.

   (b) Requests for interrogatories filed and served pursuant to paragraph
   (a) of this section shall contain a listing of the interrogatories
   requested and an explanation of why the information sought in each
   interrogatory is both necessary to the resolution of the dispute and
   not available from any other source.

   (c) A responding party shall file with the Commission and serve on the
   propounding party any opposition and objections to the requests for
   interrogatories as follows:

   (1) By the defendant, within ten calendar days of service of the
   requests for interrogatories served simultaneously with the complaint
   and within five calendar days of the requests for interrogatories
   served following service of the answer;

   (2) By the complainant, within five calendar days of service of the
   requests for interrogatories; and

   (3) In no event less than three calendar days prior to the initial
   status conference as provided for in § 14.50(a) of this subpart.

   (d) Commission staff will consider the requests for interrogatories,
   properly filed and served pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section,
   along with any objections or oppositions thereto, properly filed and
   served pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section, at the initial status
   conference, as provided for in § 14.50(a)(5) of this subpart, and at
   that time determine the interrogatories, if any, to which parties shall
   respond, and set the schedule of such response.

   (e) The interrogatories ordered to be answered pursuant to paragraph
   (d) of this section are to be answered separately and fully in writing
   under oath or affirmation by the party served, or if such party is a
   public or private corporation or partnership or association, by any
   officer or agent who shall furnish such information as is available to
   the party. The answers shall be signed by the person making them. The
   answers shall be filed with the Commission and served on the
   propounding party.

   (f) A propounding party asserting that a responding party has provided
   an inadequate or insufficient response to a Commission-ordered
   discovery request may file a motion to compel within ten days of the
   service of such response, or as otherwise directed by Commission staff,
   pursuant to the requirements of § 14.45 of this subpart.

   (g) The Commission may, in its discretion, require parties to provide
   documents to the Commission in a scanned or other electronic format
   that provides:

   (1) Indexing by useful identifying information about the documents; and

   (2) Technology that allows staff to annotate the index so as to make
   the format an efficient means of reviewing the documents.

   (h) The Commission may allow additional discovery, including, but not
   limited to, document production, depositions and/or additional
   interrogatories. In its discretion, the Commission may modify the
   scope, means and scheduling of discovery in light of the needs of a
   particular case and the requirements of applicable statutory deadlines.

   return arrow Back to Top