California Department of Social Services - State Hearings Division
Notes from the Training Bureau - February 24, 1999

If a hearing participant, whether he/she is a party or witness, has a contagious disease that can be transmitted to others such as active Tuberculosis, such person MUST be excluded from the state hearing. Such infected person may participate in the hearing by telephone. If a Judge knows in advance of the hearing that a person has a contagious disease, the judge should make arrangements for the individual (whether it is the claimant or a witness) to participate in the hearing by telephone. If a Judge first learns at the hearing that the claimant who appears on the scheduled hearing date is contagious, the Judge must postpone the case.

The County Appeals Specialist and Authorized Representative should also be alert to these situations.