(a) Who may file:

1. (1) Any person or organization claiming to be aggrieved by an alleged unlawful discriminatory practice may, in person or by an attorney-at-law, make, sign and file with the regional office a verified complaint in writing. Assistance in drafting and filing complaints shall be available to complainants at all regional offices in person, by telephone or by mail. If a complainant lacks mental capacity, the complaint may be filed on his or her behalf by a person with a substantial interest in the welfare of the complainant.
2. (2) The Commissioner of Labor or the Attorney General or the chair of the Commission on Quality of Care for the Mentally Disabled may, in like manner, make, sign and file such a complaint.
3. (3) On its own motion, or on the application of an interested person, the division may initiate its own complaint.
4. (4) Any complaint filed in accordance with paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of this subdivision may be filed on behalf of a class of persons similarly situated.
5. (5) Any employer whose employees, or some of them, refuse or threaten to refuse to cooperate with the provisions of the New York State Human Rights Law may file with the division a verified complaint asking for assistance by conciliation or other remedial action.

6. (6) Employees of the division may file complaints as stated; provided, however, that no such person may file a complaint against the division itself.

   (b) Form.

   The complaint shall be in writing, either on a form promulgated by the division or on any paper suitable for a complaint. The original shall be signed and verified before a notary public or other person duly authorized by law to take acknowledgments. Notarial service shall be furnished without charge by the division. Nunc pro tunc verifications of a complaint or an answer thereto may be made at any time that the absence of a signed verification is noted.

   (c) Contents.

   A complaint shall contain the following:

7. (1) The full name and address of the person making the complaint (hereinafter referred to as the “complainant”).
8. (2) The full name and address of each respondent against whom the complaint is made.
9. (3) The alleged unlawful discriminatory practice and a statement of the particulars thereof. A respondent may apply in writing, pursuant to the State Administrative Procedure Act, section 301, to the division attorney after service of a notice of hearing, for a more definite or detailed statement. Such application shall state, with specificity, the instances in which the complaint is insufficiently definite and detailed. If the division attorney believes that the complaint is not sufficiently definite or detailed, he or she shall provide such a statement. Otherwise the application shall be referred to the chief hearing examiner, or to the hearing examiner after the hearing has commenced, who shall issue such direction, if any, as may be appropriate.
10. (4) The date or dates of the alleged unlawful discriminatory practice and, if the alleged unlawful discriminatory practice is of a continuing nature, the dates between which said continuing acts of discrimination are alleged to have occurred.

11. (5) A statement as to any other action, civil or criminal, instituted in any other forum, and as to any pending administrative proceeding based on the same grievance as is alleged in the complaint, together with a statement as to the status or disposition of such other action.

    (d) Place of filing.

    A complaint shall be filed with the Division of Human Rights at any of its regional offices, or other place designated by the division.

    (e) Time of filing.

    The complaint must be filed within one year from the date of the occurrence of the alleged unlawful discriminatory practice. If the alleged unlawful discriminatory practice is of a continuing nature, the date of its occurrence shall be deemed to be any date subsequent to its inception, up to and including the date of its cessation.

    (f) Manner of filing.

    The complaint may be filed by personal delivery, ordinary mail, registered mail or certified mail, addressed to any of the division's offices.

    (g) Service.

    A copy of the complaint shall be promptly served by the division on the respondents and all persons the division deems to be necessary parties, on its own motion or on application of a respondent. A copy of all amendments to the complaint shall be served by the division on all parties to the proceeding, except such amendments to the complaint as are made to more correctly identify a respondent or necessary party previously served. A copy of any complaint filed against any respondent who has previously entered into a conciliation agreement, or as to whom an order of the division or its predecessor, the State Commission for Human Rights, has previously been entered, shall be delivered to the Attorney General, to the Secretary of State if the secretary has issued a license to the respondent, and to such other public officers as the division deems proper.