§ 35.125. Order of procedure.
(a) In hearings upon applications, formal complaints or petitions, the complainant, petitioner or other party having the burden of proof, shall open and close, unless otherwise directed by the presiding officer. In hearings on investigations and in proceedings which have been consolidated for hearing, the presiding officer may direct who shall open and close.
(b) Interveners shall follow the parties in whose behalf the intervention is made. Where the intervention is not in support of an original party, the presiding officer shall designate at what stage the intervener shall be heard.
(c) In proceedings where the evidence is peculiarly within the knowledge or control of another party or participant, the order of presentation set forth in subsections (a) and (b) may be varied by the presiding officer.
(d) The following shall also apply:
(1) The applications (including attached exhibits), complaints, orders to show cause and answers thereto and similar formal documents upon which hearings are fixed shall, without further action, be considered as parts of the record as pleadings.
(2) In no event, except in the case of a noncontested proceeding, may the pleadings be considered as evidence of fact other than that of the filing thereof unless offered and received in evidence in under this part.
Notes of Decisions Burden of Proof
The petitioner failed to demonstrate that the chiropractic services could reasonably be expected to reduce the petitioner’s multiple chemical sensitivity or to overcome petitioner’s vocational handicaps and enable petitioner to achieve suitable employment. Given the limited amount of medical and or other literature available on the disability of multiple chemical sensitivity in general, in order to determine whether or not any form of chiropractic treatment would be of benefit to someone in peti-tioner’s condition, an expert opinion is required; petitioner’s chiropractor offered insufficient evidence. Brooks v. Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, 682 A.2d 850 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1996).
Conflicting Regulations
The specific procedural rules of the State Ethics Commission contained in 51 Pa. Code § 21.25 (relating to conduct of hearing) supersede 1 Pa. Code Part II (relating to General Rules of Administrative Practice and Procedure). Bartholomew v. State Ethics Commission., 795 A.2d 1073 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2002).
Pleadings
Where the employer failed to file its answer to the claim petition in a timely manner, the matter was properly considered a noncontested proceeding and there was no need for claimant to move the admission of the claim petition. William J. Donovan Sheet Metal v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board, 789 A.2d 344 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2001); appeal denied 800 A.2d 936 (Pa. 2002).
Cross References This section cited in 4 Pa. Code § 89.27 (relating to order of presentation); 4 Pa. Code § 137.9 (relating to caveator as plaintiff); 7 Pa. Code § 179.53 (relating to Commission hearings); 7 Pa. Code § 179.61 (relating to hearing procedure); 10 Pa. Code § 3.11 (relating to hearing rules); 22 Pa. Code § 121.9 (relating to administrative loan collection review procedures); 22 Pa. Code § 121.10 (relating to administrative wage garnishment procedures for Federal loans); 28 Pa. Code § 301.7 (relating to fair hearing); 34 Pa. Code § 131.53a (relating to consolidated hearing procedure); 34 Pa. Code § 131.57 (relating to compromise and release agreements); 34 Pa. Code § 131.202 (relating to first hearing information and stay); 34 Pa. Code § 131.203 (relating to hearing procedures); 37 Pa. Code § 171.96 (relating to arbitration hearing procedure); 37 Pa. Code § 197.48 (relating to procedure at hearing); 37 Pa. Code § 197.70 (relating to hearings); 37 Pa. Code § 197.90 (relating to procedure at hearing); 40 Pa. Code § 15.46 (relating to hearings); 49 Pa. Code § 31.103 (relating to applicability of other laws and rules); 49 Pa. Code § 31.115 (relating to disciplinary sanctions); 51 Pa. Code § 21.25 (relating to conduct of the hearing); 52 Pa. Code § 5.242 (relating to order of procedure); 52 Pa. Code § 5.405 (relating to effect of pleadings); 52 Pa. Code § 1005.82 (relating to scheduling of hearing); 52 Pa. code § 1005.111 (relating to order of procedure); 52 Pa. Code § 1005.145 (relating to effect of pleadings); 55 Pa. Code § 41.153 (relating to burden of proof and production); 58 Pa. Code § 494a.2 (relating to oral hearings); 61 Pa. Code § 703.31 (relating to disposition of petitions); 61 Pa. Code § 703.34 (relating to hearing procedure); and 67 Pa. Code § 491.10 (relating to hearings).
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