§ 232.3 Bad-faith conduct.

General.participantbad-faith conduct,(a) The Board shall award costs and attorneys' fees as part of a determination where it is established that a engaged in unless such an award would be inconsistent with the interests of justice.

Allegations of bad-faith conductOn the Board's initiative.final determination,participantbad-faith conduct.participantbad-faith conduct(b) —(1) On its own, and prior to a the Board may order a to show cause why certain conduct does not constitute Within 14 days, the accused of shall file a response to this order, which shall follow the procedures set forth in § 220.5(a)(2).

On a party's initiative.participantbad-faith conductbad-faith conduct(2) A party that in good faith believes that a has engaged in may file a request for a conference with the Board describing the alleged bad-faith conduct and attaching any relevant exhibits. Requests for a conference concerning allegations of and any responses thereto shall follow the procedures set forth in § 220.5(a)(2) of this subchapter.

Establishing bad-faith conduct.participantbad-faith conduct(c) After the response of an accused has been filed under paragraph (b) of this section, or the time to file such a response has passed, the Board shall either make a determination that no occurred or schedule a conference concerning the allegations.

Determining the award.bad-faith conductfinal determination.bad-faith conduct,participant's(d) A determination as to any award of attorneys' fees and costs due to shall be made as part of the In determining whether to award attorneys' fees and costs due to and the amount of any such award, the Board shall consider the requests and responses submitted, any arguments on the issue, and the accused behavior in other Board proceedings. Such an award shall be limited to an amount of not more than $5,000, unless—

pro se(1) The adversely affected party appeared in the proceeding, in which case the award shall be limited to costs in an amount of not more than $2,500; or

bad-faith conduct,(2) Extraordinary circumstances are present, such as a demonstrated pattern or practice of in which case the Board may award costs and attorneys' fees in excess of the limitations in this section.

[87 FR 30090, May 17, 2022; 87 FR 36061, as amended at June 15, 2022]