A Look at Where EEO Claims Come From, and How Mediation Can Help

I recently gave a presentation about the role of ADR in addressing EEO claims, claims made alleging discrimination in workplaces on the basis of characteristics like age, gender, religion, disability, race, national origin, and sexual identity.  One of the audience members expressed surprise at the high number of claims filed with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, along with state and local civil rights agencies, each year.  What explains the continuing rise of these EEO claims?

There are two primary reasons I see for the continued prevalence of EEO claims in the workplace.  First, our workplaces are becoming increasingly diverse.  This is true in terms of the ages of workers, with Millennials working side by side with Boomers, as well as in terms of greater diversity of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation and identity, and disability status.  This means that the workplace creates an environment where people are brought together to interact with others that they never otherwise would.  While this can be the basis for increased productivity and the birthplace of great creativity, it also ensures that there will be conflict as people from different backgrounds and perspectives learn to communicate with each other.

But I think there is a second reason that is equally important to the continued prevalence of EEO claims, and this reason provides a real opportunity to mediation and other forms of ADR in the workplace to have a real impact.  The reality is that there are not that many accepted and understood ways for employees to address conflicts in the workplace.  One of the best understood methods is to file an EEO claim.  This is a process that is well understood and made easily available to employees. While this is of critical importance to the eradication of discrimination in workplaces, it also means that many other conflicts that may not actually be EEO claims become captured in this necessarily wide net.

This is where the benefit for early mediation of EEO claims becomes apparent.  By providing an opportunity to address problems head on and give all parties a chance to explain their sides of the story and understand where the other party is coming from, mediation provides a forum to discuss solutions to all workplace problems.  The issues at hand, whether they are EEO issues involving unequal treatment in the workplace, or whether they are another type of dispute, can be clarified and appropriately handled in the course of a few hours to a few days, rather than taking years to wind their way through an administrative agency and the courts.

There is proof that early mediation of EEO claims is an effective and attractive method of conflict resolution.  In a study done of the EEOC’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Program, which provides employers and employees a chance to mediate a charge of discrimination early in the process before the time consuming investigation takes place, an overwhelming percent of mediation participants said they would choose to utilize mediation of EEO claims in the future.  In fact, 96% of employers and 91% of charging parties (employees who filed the charge of discrimination) indicated they would use the mediation process again if the opportunity arose, even where the results of the mediation were different than they had anticipated.

Early mediation of EEO claims is the best way to help your organization handle workplace disputes in a timely and cost effective manner, helping everyone to get back to work to get things done.