Learning the subject matter of a dispute:
Upcoming CMC Training in “Foundations of Mediating Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Disputes”

Among members of the mediation community there has been a continuing debate about whether or not a mediator needs a certain degree of expertise in the subject matter at the heart of a dispute being mediated to successfully mediate, or is just skill in mediation enough? For example, is it better when mediating an EEO dispute to know about EEO laws or when dealing with construction mediations to know about the elements of construction?

The mediation purists argue that the mediation process is the same no matter what the dispute is about so there is no need for additional subject-matter expertise. Besides, they remind us that since mediators don’t give legal advice all they need is mediation skill. There are others, myself included, who believe that in certain types of disputes it helps to have some knowledge of the subject matter.

During my 32-years of Federal government civilian service I spent the majority of time as an EEO Manager, Discrimination Complaint Manager, and Mediator. In designing mediation programs as part of the discrimination complaint process, I always relied on outside neutrals who not only were skilled as mediators, but also were knowledgeable in EEO and Federal government human resources. The benefits of this were multi-fold: 1. The mediators were better able to reality test with participants if they understood EEO laws, complaint processes, and Federal government civil service rules; 2. By understanding the complaint process, including applicable timeframes, mediators understood the constraints in which they were operating; 3. The mediators could use appropriate jargon with the participants, which gives the participants a high comfort level that the mediator was really listening to and understanding their issues; 4. Mediators understood better what must appear in a settlement agreement—and what couldn’t; and 5. Perhaps most importantly, this subject-matter knowledge let the mediators know what they didn’t know and when to seek outside expertise.

Following along with this thinking, the Community Mediation Center will be offering a 4-hour training class on Saturday, August 18, 2007, from 9:00 a.m.-1:00 pm in “Foundations of Mediating Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Disputes.” The cost of the training is $95, and will provide an overview of employment discrimination, Federal and State discrimination laws and complaint processes, and components of mediating EEO disputes. Visit our website at www.ConflictCrushers.org to register on-line for this course, or any of our other training opportunities.

Leslie Tourigny
Mediation Liaison and AMERICORPS Member