1 Texas Administrative Code § 12.45 – Motion for Sanctions
(a) The commission has the authority to impose appropriate sanctions against a party or its representative for:
(1) filing a motion or pleading that is deemed by the commission to be groundless and brought:
(A) in bad faith;
(B) for the purpose of harassment; or
(C) for any other improper purpose, such as to cause unnecessary delay or needless increase in the cost of the proceeding;
(2) abuse of the discovery process in seeking, making, or resisting discovery;
(3) failure to comply with a commission order; or
(4) violating § 12.51 of this chapter (relating to Conduct and Decorum).
(b) By record vote of at least six commissioners, the commission may issue an order imposing sanctions when justified by party or representative behavior described in subsection (a) of this section and after notice and opportunity for hearing. Sanctions may include:
(1) disallowing or limiting further discovery by the offending party;
(2) charging all or part of the expenses of discovery against the offending party or its representatives;
(3) deeming designated facts be admitted for purposes of the proceeding;
(4) refusing to allow the offending party to support or oppose a claim or defense or prohibiting the party from introducing designated matters into the record;
(5) disallowing in whole or in part requests for relief by the offending party and excluding evidence in support of those requests; and
(6) striking motions or testimony in whole or in part.
(c) In deciding if a complaint is frivolous, the commission will be guided by the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 13, and interpretations of that rule, and may also consider:
(1) the timing of the complaint with respect to when the facts supporting the alleged violation became known or should have become known to the complainant, and with respect to the date of any pending election in which the respondent is a candidate or is involved with a candidacy, if any;
(2) the nature and type of any publicity surrounding the filing of the complaint, and the degree of participation by the complainant in publicizing the fact that a complaint was filed with the commission;
(3) the existence and nature of any relationship between the respondent and the complainant before the complaint was filed;
(4) if respondent is a candidate for election to office, the existence and nature of any relationship between the complainant and any candidate or group opposing the respondent;
(5) any evidence that the complainant knew or reasonably should have known that the allegations in the complaint were groundless; and
(6) any evidence of the complainant’s motives in filing the complaint.
