(1) The commission shall:

    (a) Maintain a principal office in the city of Lansing and other offices within the state as it considers necessary.

    (b) Meet and exercise its powers at any place within the state.

    (c) Appoint an executive director who shall be the chief executive officer of the department and exempt from civil service, and appoint necessary hearing examiners.

    (d) Accept public grants, private gifts, bequests, or other amounts or payments.

    (e) Prepare annually a comprehensive written report to the governor. The report may contain recommendations adopted by the commission for legislative or other action necessary to effectuate the purposes and policies of this act.

    (f) Promulgate, amend, or repeal rules to carry out this act pursuant to Act No. 306 of the Public Acts of 1969, as amended, being sections 24.201 to 24.315 of the Michigan Compiled Laws.

    (g) Request the services of a department or agency of the state or a political subdivision of the state.

    (h) Promote and cooperate with a public or governmental agency as in the commission's judgment will aid in effectuating the act and the state constitution of 1963.

    (i) Establish and promulgate rules governing its relationship with local commissions, and establish criteria for certifying local commissions for the deferring of complaints.

    (2) The commission may hold hearings, administer oaths, issue preliminary notices to witnesses to appear, compel through court authorization the attendance of witnesses and the production for examination of books, papers, or other records relating to matters before the commission, take the testimony of a person under oath, and issue appropriate orders. The commission may promulgate rules as to the issuance of preliminary notices to appear.

    (3) A majority of the members of the commission constitutes a quorum. A majority of the members is required to take action on matters not of a ministerial nature, but a majority of a quorum may deal with ministerial matters. A vacancy in the commission shall not impair the right of the remaining members to exercise the powers of the commission. The members of the commission shall receive a per diem compensation and shall be reimbursed for the actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties. The per diem compensation of the commission and the schedule for reimbursement of the expenses shall be established annually by the legislature.

    (4) The business which the commission may perform shall be conducted at a public meeting of the commission held in compliance with Act No. 267 of the Public Acts of 1976, being sections 15.261 to 15.275 of the Michigan Compiled Laws. Public notice of the time, date, and place of the meeting shall be given in the manner required by Act No. 267 of the Public Acts of 1976.

    (5) A writing prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, or retained by the commission in the performance of an official function shall be made available to the public in compliance with Act No. 442 of the Public Acts of 1976, being sections 15.231 to 15.246 of the Michigan Compiled Laws.

     The department shall:

    (a) Be responsible to the executive director, who shall be the principal executive officer of the department and shall be responsible for executing the policies of the commission.

    (b) Appoint necessary employees and agents and fix their compensation in accordance with civil service rules. The attorney general shall appear for and represent the department or the commission in a court having jurisdiction of a matter under this act.

    (c) Receive, initiate, investigate, conciliate, adjust, dispose of, issue charges, and hold hearings on complaints alleging a violation of this act, and approve or disapprove plans to correct past discriminatory practices which have caused or resulted in a denial of equal opportunity with respect to groups or persons protected by this act.

    (d) Require answers to interrogatories, order the submission of books, papers, records, and other materials pertinent to a complaint, and require the attendance of witnesses, administer oaths, take testimony, and compel, through court authorization, compliance with its orders or an order of the commission.

    (e) Cooperate or contract with persons and state, local, and other agencies, both public and private, including agencies of the federal government and of other states.

    (f) Monitor the awarding and execution of contracts to ensure compliance by a contractor or a subcontractor with a covenant entered into or to be entered into pursuant to section 209.

     At any time after a complaint is filed, the department may file a petition in the circuit court for the county in which the subject of the complaint occurs, or for the county in which a respondent resides or transacts business, seeking appropriate temporary relief against the respondent, pending final determination of proceedings under this section, including an order or decree restraining the respondent from doing or procuring an act tending to render ineffectual an order the commission may enter with respect to the complaint. If the complaint alleges a violation of article 5, upon the filing of the petition the department shall file for the record a notice of pendency of the action. The court may grant temporary relief or a restraining order as it deems just and proper, but the relief or order shall not extend beyond 5 days except by consent of the respondent, or after hearing upon notice to the respondent and a finding by the court that there is reasonable cause to believe that the respondent has engaged in a discriminatory practice.

     If the commission, after a hearing on a charge issued by the department, determines that the respondent has not engaged in a discriminatory practice prohibited by this act, the commission shall state its findings of fact and conclusions of law and shall issue a final order dismissing the complaint. The commission shall furnish a copy of the order to the claimant, the respondent, the attorney general, and other public officers and persons as the commission deems proper.

    (1) If the commission, after a hearing on a charge issued by the department, determines that the respondent has violated this act or the handicappers' civil rights act, Act No. 220 of the Public Acts of 1976, being sections 37.1101 to 37.1607 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, the commission shall state its findings of fact and conclusions of law and shall issue a final order requiring the respondent to cease and desist from the discriminatory practice and to take such other action as it deems necessary to secure equal enjoyment and protection of civil rights. If at a hearing on a charge, a pattern or practice of discrimination prohibited by this act or Act No. 220 of the Public Acts of 1976 appears in the evidence, the commission may, upon its own motion or on motion of the claimant, amend the pleadings to conform to the proofs, make findings, and issue an order based on those findings. A copy of the order shall be delivered to the respondent, the claimant, the attorney general, and to other public officers and persons as the commission deems proper.

    (2) Action ordered under this section may include, but is not limited to:

    (a) Hiring, reinstatement, or upgrading of employees with or without back pay.

    (b) Admission or restoration of individuals to labor organization membership, admission to or participation in a guidance program, apprenticeship training program, on the job training program, or other occupational training or retraining program, with the utilization of objective criteria in the admission of persons to those programs.

    (c) Admission of persons to a public accommodation or an educational institution.

    (d) Sale, exchange, lease, rental, assignment, or sublease of real property to a person.

    (e) Extension to all persons of the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of the respondent.

    (f) Reporting as to the manner of compliance.

    (g) Requiring the posting of notices in a conspicuous place which the commission may publish or cause to be published setting forth requirements for compliance with civil rights law or other relevant information which the commission determines necessary to explain those laws.

    (h) Payment to an injured party of profits obtained by the respondent through a violation of section 506 of this act or of Act No. 220 of the Public Acts of 1976.

    (i) Payment to the complainant of damages for an injury or loss caused by a violation of this act, including a reasonable attorney's fee.

    (j) Payment to the complainant of all or a portion of the costs of maintaining the action before the commission, including reasonable attorney fees and expert witness fees, if the commission determines that award to be appropriate.

    (k) Payment of a civil fine for a violation of article 5 of this act, an amount directly related to the cost to the state for enforcing this statute not to exceed:

    (i) $10,000.00 for the first violation.

    (ii) $25,000.00 for the second violation within a 5-year period.

    (iii) $50,000.00 for 2 or more violations within a 7-year period.

    (l) Other relief the commission deems appropriate.

    (3) In the case of a respondent operating by virtue of a license issued by the state, a political subdivision, or an agency of the state or political subdivision, if the commission, upon notice and hearing, determines that the respondent has violated this act and that the violation was authorized, requested, commanded, performed, or knowingly permitted by the board of directors of the respondent or by an officer or executive agent acting within the scope of his or her employment, the commission shall so certify to the licensing agency. Unless the commission's finding is reversed in the course of judicial review, the finding of the commission may be grounds for revocation of the respondent's license.

    (4) In the case of a respondent who violates this act in the course of performing under a contract or subcontract with the state, a political subdivision, or an agency of the state or political subdivision, where the violation was authorized, requested, commanded, performed, or knowingly permitted by the board of directors of the respondent or by an officer or executive agent acting within the scope of his or her employment, the commission shall so certify to the contracting agency. Unless the commission's finding is reversed in the course of judicial review, the finding is binding on the contracting agency.

    (1) A complainant and a respondent shall have a right of appeal from a final order of the commission, including cease and desist orders and refusals to issue charges, before the circuit court for the county of Ingham, or the circuit court for the county in which the alleged violation occurred or where the person against whom the complaint is filed, resides, or has his or her principal place of business. An appeal before the circuit court shall be reviewed de novo. If an appeal is not taken within 30 days after the service of an appealable order of the commission, the commission may obtain a decree for the enforcement of the order from the circuit court which has jurisdiction of the appeal. If the appellant files for appeal in the circuit court for the county of Ingham, the appellee, upon application, shall be granted a change of venue to hear the matter on appeal in the circuit court for the county in which the alleged violation occurred or where the person against whom the complaint is filed, resides, or has his or her principal place of business or where the claimant resides.

    (2) A proceeding for review or enforcement of an appealable order is initiated by filing a petition in the circuit court. Copies of the petition shall be served upon the parties of record. Within 30 days after the service of the petition upon the commission or filing of the petition by the commission, or within further time as the court may allow, the commission shall transmit to the court the original or a certified copy of the entire record upon which the order is based, including a transcript of the testimony, which need not be printed. By stipulation of the parties to the review proceeding, the record may be shortened. The court may grant temporary relief as it considers just, or enter an order enforcing, modifying and enforcing as modified, or setting aside in whole or in part the order of the commission, or may remand the case to the commission for further proceedings. The commission's copy of the testimony shall be available at reasonable times to all parties for examination without cost.

    (3) The final judgment or decree of the circuit court shall be subject to review by appeal in the same manner and form as other appeals from that court.

    (4) A proceeding under this section shall be initiated not more than 30 days after a copy of the order of the commission is received, unless the commission is the petitioner or the petition is filed under subsection (3). If a proceeding is not so initiated, the commission may obtain a court order for enforcement of its order upon showing that a copy of the petition for enforcement was served on the respondent, that the respondent is subject to the jurisdiction of the court, that the order sought to be enforced is an order of the commission, regularly entered, and that the commission has jurisdiction over the subject matter and the respondent.