Does Mediation Work for Employment and Discrimination Cases?

Simple answer is YES. I have litigated every kind of employment law case you can think of. I have been involved in retaliation cases which had to do with an employee complaining of: sexual harassment, sexual discrimination against an employee or an applicant, or violations of the law. I have also been part of cases dealing with age discrimination, disability discrimination and failure to accommodate a disabled employee, failure to pay overtime, failure to pay wages agreed upon, ……. What’s more, I have represented clients on both sides of the aisle. I have defended major public companies and have had the pleasure of representing some of the most vulnerable members of our community the elderly and the young. I write all of this to let the reader know that I have seen it all (pretty much) and am a strong believer in mediating cases. The one caveat I have however, is that you have to use the right mediator.

In my opinion the right mediator is one who knows the area of law, has had experience in that particular field as a lawyer or a judge, and does not depend on a certain industry or side (defense) for most of his cases. If both sides can agree on such a candidate, and the parties are reasonable, I can’t see why most cases cannot be resolved at mediations.