HAR §12-46-5. Filing of complaint

(a) Any person claiming to be aggrieved by an alleged unlawful discriminatory practice may file a complaint. (b) The commission's executive director may file a complaint whenever there is reason to believe that any person, employer, employment agency, labor organization, program or activity, place of public accommodation, or person engaging in a real estate transaction has engaged or is engaging in an unlawful discriminatory practice. (c) The commission's executive director or the attorney general may file a complaint on behalf of a class where an unlawful discriminatory practice raises questions of law or fact which are common to the class and where a class action complaint is superior to other available methods for the fair and efficient adjudication of the controversy. A complaint so filed may be investigated, conciliated, and litigated on a class basis. (d) Assistance in drafting and filing complaints is available to complainants at the commission's offices. (e) The complaint shall be in writing and, where feasible, upon forms furnished by the commission's executive director. The complaint shall be signed. (f) The original signed complaint shall be filed by personal delivery or by mail, addressed to the commission. (g) When the complainant is unable to personally deliver or mail a timely original signed complaint, the commission may receive a facsimile copy or a scan or image sent by electronic mail, if legible, of a complaint containing the information required by section 12-46-6. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 12-46-6(b), complaints are deemed filed on the 46-14 ( date of receipt of the facsimile copy or scan or image sent by electronic mail if the complainant complies with section 12-46-S(f) within seven days of the receipt of the facsimile or scan or image. If the commission does not receive the original signed complaint within seven days, the filing date will be the date when the commission received the original signed complaint. [Eff 12/31/90; am 5/1/92; am 11 / 4 / 93; am and comp ] (Auth: HRS §368-3) (Imp: HRS §368-11)