Posts Tagged ‘mediation’
Texas Mediator: Mediation inappropriate for Workplace Bullying cases
Thursday, January 24th, 2013
No Mediation for Workplace Bullying
by Esque Walker, Ph.D., Texas Certified Distinguished Mediator
Mediation is an inappropriate alternative in cases involving any type of abuse or violence such as domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault, school or workplace bullying.
The victims or targets in these situations are at a disadvantage and are subjected to further abuse.
Mediation is a process in which disputing parties with the assistance of a third party, the mediator, come together in an attempt to resolve their differences in an acceptable manner (win/win) to both parties. The mediation process assumes that all parties involved in the mediation are “sufficiently capable” of negotiating and reaching a mediated agreement with each other as equals in the process. In cases involving workplace bullying or any type of family violence, this is a false assumption; individuals experiencing abuse, violence, or similar interactions are disempowered their ability to deal effectively with their abusers are diminished.
When the mediation process was designed, it was not intended to or structured to deal with the complexity of workplace bullying or other forms of violence.
Tags: Esque Walker, government mediation, Healthy Workplace Bill, inapprorpriate ADR, mediation, WBI survey, workplace bullying
Posted in Bullying-Related Research, Social/Mgmt/Epid Sciences, Tutorials About Bullying, WBI Education | No Archived Comments | Post A Comment (
WBI Survey: Mediation and Workplace Bullying
Thursday, January 24th, 2013
WBI 2011-D Instant Poll
At WBI, we have always argued against the adoption of mediation or other alternative dispute resolution practices for bullying resolution. The source of our resistance is twofold: (1) often the bullied target who is already compromised and often emotionally wounded is mandated to participate, and (2) workplace bullying is a form of violence, non-physical and sub-lethal, but interpersonal violence nevertheless.
Violent relationships cannot be mediated. Mediation requires that both parties are rational and capable of gaining an empathic understanding of the needs and intellectual interests of the other party. In bullying, only one party is rational. The other’s interest is tainted by her or his need to dominate the other party. There is no equal footing at the start. One does not mediate domestic violence. There is no halfway in the gulf between parties when one is under assault by the other.
In a 2011 WBI Instant Poll, 473 respondent/bullied targets completed a survey exploring how effective was mediation.
Tags: ADR, arbitration, Gary Namie, mediation, WBI research, workplace bullying
Posted in Tutorials About Bullying, WBI Education, WBI Surveys & Studies | No Archived Comments | Post A Comment (
Mediation at the EEOC, Lower Your Expectations
Friday, September 23rd, 2011
As followers of WBI know, we oppose the use of mediation as a resolution strategy except in the mildest of all bullying cases. Most bullying cases are characterized as a form of violence, non-homicidal and non-physical, but clearly more severe than harassment and more impactful with respect to the target’s health (more depression, anxiety, hostility, trauma). So, it was a special opportunity for me to see mediation from the inside when I was asked to participate in an EEOC mediation session between a bullied target and her employer.
(more…)
Tags: bullying case, EEOC, mediation
Posted in Employers Gone Wild: Doing Bad Things, Tutorials About Bullying | 9 Archived Comments | Post A Comment (
Guest: Can bullying be mediated?
Wednesday, December 8th, 2010
by Tom Sebok , Ombudsman, University of Colorado at Boulder
“I believe mediation can be a useful tool in very limited cases involving bullying. I am much less sanguine about its use more broadly as a tool to reduce or eliminate workplace bullying on college campuses or anywhere else …
Restorative justice conceives of wrongdoing as behavior that harms individuals and communities, rather than as violations against “the state” (Umbreit, 2005, p. 254). For the purposes of this discussion, a restorative approach would focus on identifying: (1) who has been harmed by bullying; (2) exactly how she, he, or they were harmed; and (3) how to best repair that harm.”
Read the entire contents of this thought-provoking and optimistic essay.
Tags: mediation, ombuds, restorative justice, Tom Sebok
Posted in Tutorials About Bullying | 30 Archived Comments | Post A Comment (
WBI's position on mediation and workplace bullying
Friday, June 11th, 2010
Bullying is rarely just conflict. The Chronicle of Higher Education reported on an American Arbitration Association (AAA) initiative to address workplace bullying in the academe. The WBI position is clear. When there is a power/status difference, mediation is the wrong tool. We do not mediate domestic violence cases. When there is clearly a perpetrator-initiator and an involuntary target, mediation further compromises the compromised. When the organization believes the target finally attempting to fight back makes him or her equally wrong, mediation doesn’t work.
Tags: American Arbitration Association, Chronicle of Higher Education, mediation
Posted in Employers Gone Wild: Doing Bad Things, Tutorials About Bullying | 8 Archived Comments | Post A Comment (
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