Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal

This study surveyed some forty-seven (47) human rights or actually EEO disputants involved in cases pending before the Kansas Human Rights Commission who voluntarily submitted their dispute to mediation. At the outset, the authors recognize and acknowledge that there was a seventeen per cent (17 percent) return of surveys in this study. Specifically, there were 275 valid surveys mailed (i.e., to valid addresses) and 47 surveys returned, yielding a 17 percent return rate. The authors are of the opinion that because of the 100 detailed questions posed in the surveys, there is a reasonable basis to make legitimately certain generalizations about the respondents' opinions related to their experience with EEO mediation.

This study has attempted to examine and shed some light on six (6) issues related to participants' satisfaction with EEO mediation. It is also the hope and goal of the authors that this study will stimulate or prompt other researchers to further systematically examine a host of critical issues related to the importance and impact of legal representation versus what has been called "self representation" in all ADR processes, including mediation and arbitration.

It is also the hope and goal of the authors that future researchers will make a critical examinations of whether EEO mediation negatively effects or impacts minorities and women, particularly given the cost related to retaining legal representation. Statistics show that the economic status of racial minorities and women render them less able to overcome the financial hurdle related to retaining legal representation. The responsible examination and answer to these public policy issues, including whether EEO mediation serves to fulfill the overarching mission of our various state and federal anti-discrimination laws.

The study sought to ascertain what impact legal representation of disputants had on various aspects of the EEO mediation program, particularly the effect on participants' satisfaction with mediation. The researchers found that generally, disputants represented by legal counsel had a higher degree of satisfaction with mediation and with the mediated outcome. The researchers also found that the general degree of disputant satisfaction was not significantly influenced by the disputants' income level. However, racial minority complainant disputants preferred having a mediator of their own race serve as their mediator. Both represented and unrepresented disputants preferred evaluative mediation over facilitative mediation and preferred selecting their mediator versus having a mediator appointed.