TITLE 10 - ENERGY

CHAPTER III - DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

SUBCHAPTER I - SALES REGULATION

PART 708 - DOE CONTRACTOR EMPLOYEE PROTECTION PROGRAM

subpart c - INVESTIGATION, HEARING AND DECISION PROCESS

708.22 - What process does the Office of Hearings and Appeals use to conduct an investigation of the complaint?

  (a) If you request a hearing without an investigation, the OHA Director will not initiate an investigation even if another party requests one.

  (b) If you request an investigation followed by a hearing, the OHA Director will appoint a person from the Office of Hearings and Appeals to conduct the investigation. The investigator may not participate or advise in the initial or final agency decision on your complaint.

  (c) The investigator will determine the appropriate scope of investigation based on the circumstances of the complaint. The investigator may enter and inspect places and records; make copies of records; interview persons alleged to have been involved in retaliation and other employees of the charged contractor who may have relevant information; take sworn statements; and require the production of any documents or other evidence.

  (d) A contractor must cooperate fully with the investigator by making employees and all pertinent evidence available upon request.

  (e) A person being interviewed in an investigation has the right to be represented by a person of his or her choosing.

  (f) Parties to the complaint are not entitled to be present at interviews conducted by an investigator.

  (g) If a person other than the complainant requests that his or her identity be kept confidential, the investigator may grant confidentiality, but must advise such person that confidentiality means that the Office of Hearings and Appeals will not identify the person as a source of information to anyone outside the Office of Hearings and Appeals, except as required by statute or other law, or as determined by the OHA Director to be unavoidable.