§  1.242   Appointment of case manager when Commission is the presiding
officer.

   When the Commission designates itself as the presiding officer in a
   hearing proceeding, it may delegate authority to a case manager to
   develop the record in a written hearing (see § § 1.370 through 1.377).
   The case manager must be a staff attorney who qualifies as a neutral
   under 5 U.S.C. 571 and 573. The Commission shall not designate any of
   the following persons to serve as case manager in a case, and they may
   not advise or assist the case manager: Staff who participated in
   identifying the specific issues designated for hearing; staff who have
   taken or will take an active part in investigating, prosecuting, or
   advocating in the case; or staff who are expected to investigate and
   act upon petitions to deny (including challenges thereto). A case
   manager shall have authority to perform any of the functions generally
   performed by the presiding officer, except that a case manager shall
   have no authority to resolve any new or novel issues, to issue an order
   on the merits resolving any issue designated for hearing in a case, to
   issue an order on the merits of any motion for summary decision filed
   under § 1.251, or to perform any other functions that the Commission
   reserves to itself in the order appointing a case manager.

   [ 85 FR 63176 , Oct. 6, 2020]