Selected Articles on Mediation, Employment, and Civil Rights

Victory for domestic workers
Special to the National Law Journal
August 23, 2010
On July 1, the New York State Assembly and Senate passed the landmark Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights. When Gov. David Paterson signs it, as he has committed to do, it will become the first such state legislation in the nation. As Colorado and California groups are already planning to push for a similar measure, the law may prove a bellwether for reform of household employees' lives.   More ...

Protect Afghan women
Special to the National Law Journal
May 11, 2009
The Afghan Constitution affirms a commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In the United States, women and their advocates mount battles for fair treatment on the job. The law generally supports these efforts, although enforcement can be problematic. On the household front, married couples decide for themselves how they wish to order their affairs; the state maintains a hands-off stance. But if, say, a man assaults his wife or tries to imprison her in the home, she can seek legal redress. More ...

It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over: Fashioning Durable Settlements
Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation
International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution vol. 27 No. 3 March 2009
It’s 7:00 p.m., and after a long hard mediation, the case has settled. The plaintiff prepares to move on with his life. The defendant’s representatives, the lawyers, and the mediator promptly turn to their next task. And everyone breathes a sigh of relief—perhaps too soon. More ...

Respect in Mediation: A Counter to Disrespect in the Workplace
Dispute Resolution Journal
vol. 63, no. 4 (November 2008-January 2009)
Respect is a universal need. Unfortunately, its opposite, disrespect, can be found in many places of employment, from corporate board rooms to assembly lines. Work plays a central role in the lives of Americans; much of our sense of identity and worth, our self-respect, is determined by how well we are doing at work and how our co-workers and bosses perceive us. Yet, never before in recent years has the job environment been less hospitable to employees. More ...

Principal is scolded: Student had right to support gay classmates
Special to the National Law Journal
June 30, 2008
On Oct. 21, Heather Gillman received the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award for her brave defense of the rights of homosexual students at her high school in the tiny Bible Belt town of Ponce de Leon, Fla. Nine months earlier, the then-11th-grader sued the school board and principal David Davis to end what District Judge Richard Smoak later described as Davis' "relentless crusade" to suppress speech declaring tolerance for gays and lesbians. More ...

Disability Discrimination
Special to the National Law Journal
June 30, 2008
On June 25, almost 18 years after enactment of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3195, the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA), by a 402‑17 vote. According to its drafters, the U.S. Supreme Court had flouted congressional expectations that the ADA would “‘provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities,’”and establish a broad shield for its intended beneficiaries. The ADAAA, designed to reverse judicial inroads on the ADA, now awaits Senate action — and, one hopes, prompt approval by President Bush.   More ...

After the Handshake: Don't Let Settlements Evaporate
Acresolution
Fall/Winter 2007
It's 7:00 p.m., and after a long hard day's mediation, the case has settled. The employee prepares to move on with his life. The employers' representatives, the lawyers and the mediator promptly turn to what's next on their plates. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief — perhaps too soon.  More ...

ENDA Legislation: Half a loaf is worse
Special to the National Law Journal
November 19, 2007
The first bill specifically targeting job discrimination based on sexual orientation was introduced in Congress in 1996; it failed in the Senate by only one vote. On Nov. 7, the current version, H.R. 3685, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2007 (ENDA), passed in the House, 235 to 184. The original ENDA, H.R. 2015, covered not only gays, lesbians and bisexuals, but also transgender individuals (collectively, GLBT): people whose "gender-related identity, appearance, or mannerisms" differ from their "designated sex at birth." The Democratic leadership pulled it in favor of H.R. 3685, which omits protection for transsexuals, cross-dressers and other employees with nonconforming gender identities. They did so because a head count showed they lacked the votes necessary to enact the more inclusive law.  More ...

Taxation of Damages: End the inequity
Special to the National Law Journal
April 2, 2007
House and Senate committees are considering the Civil Rights Tax Relief Act of 2007. The CRTRA would remedy anomalies in the treatment of damages obtained by employment discrimination victims and other civil rights plaintiffs, which disadvantage them by comparison with victims of physically injurious torts. A section of an earlier version, enacted in 2004, went part way toward rejecting this harsh approach by ending taxation of attorney fees to both the lawyer and the client. Congress should finish the job this session. More ...

Co-Op Board Rejections: Shed Light on Them
Special to the National Law Journal
Monday, June 25, 2007
Sunlight is the best disinfectant, Justice Louis D. Brandeis opined. On matters of political or corporate governance, progressive thinkers usually agree. But not necessarily where transparency would trench on the interests of co-operative apartment owners, as appears from the generally left-leaning New York City Council's failure to grant a hearing on a bill that would force co-op boards to reveal the reasons for rejecting would-be buyers' applications. More ...

Unaffordable Divorce
Special to the National Law Journal
April 2, 2007
The titles of myriad self-help books graphically convey the predicament faced by ordinary people seeking a divorce that they can afford. A minute's tour of Amazon.com reveals manuals like Breaking Up Is Hard On You: The High Cost of Divorce, How to File Your Own Divorce and Divorce Yourself: The National No-Fault No-Lawyer Divorce Handbook. More ...

Hostile Workplaces
Special to the National Law Journal
December 4, 2006
Worldwit, a network for women in business and technology, declared Sept. 4-8 "National Breastfeeding at Work Week." The organization's purpose was "to promote full participation and equality for nursing women in the workplace." Although some progressive companies provide mother-friendly environments, many more businesses do not. Regrettably, the courts uniformly reject suits under current federal statutes to ban discrimination against, or require accommodations for, new mothers on the job; and laws in a mere nine states address the issue in any way. Therefore, we need national legislation to ensure that female employees do not have to choose between earning their living and fulfilling a natural function that is not only personally rewarding but also socially beneficial. More ...

Faculty-Student Sex: Any Real Remedy?
The National Law Journal: Opinion
April 17, 2006
Sex on campus is as much a part of the learning experience as lectures, labs and research projects. Ideally, it involves romance between young people exploring their way toward adult roles. In reality, too often it constitutes the byproduct of a toxic brew of alcohol and ignorance, leaving at least one party (usually, the woman) feeling dissatisfied or imposed on. Perhaps some of these negative occurrences can be turned to positive use: College entails experimentation, and we expect that missteps teach students to avoid similar mistakes in the future.    More ...

Mediation: An Alternative Means of Processing Attorney Disciplinary Complaints
The Professional Lawyer
December 2005
Sources ranging from the Harris Poll to lawyer jokes reflect Americans' low level of confidence in, and esteem for, the bar. Regrettably, some attorneys do live up (or down) to their reputation.  The author evaluates the role of mediation in mending "broken" professional relationships.     More ...

Summary Judgment Benchmarks for Settling Employment Discrimination Lawsuits
Hofstra Labor & Employment Law Journal
Fall 2005
The number of employment discrimination lawsuits rose continuously throughout the last three decades of the twentieth century. In the federal courts, such filings grew 2000%, while the docket as a whole increased a mere 125%.      More ...

Domestic Violence: Don't Evict Victims
The National Law Journal: Opinion
June 6, 2005
On April 18, the Women's Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, co-counsel with Vermont Legal Aid, announced settlement in Bouley v. Young-Sabourin (D. Vt. 2005), the first case in which a court had held that the Fair Housing Act bans discrimination against victims of domestic violence. Previous lawsuits had settled before resolution of this claim. The ruling, denying summary judgment to a landlady who allegedly evicted a young mother because her husband had physically attacked her in their home, amounts to a significant victory for women battered by their intimate partners.      More ...

Workplace Mediation: Nip Issues in the Bud
The National Law Journal
July 19, 2004
Workplace mediation of employment-related disputes is increasingly prevalent in the public and private sectors. Its use by the federal government has grown with the enactment of statutes mandating or encouraging recourse to alternative dispute resolution (ADR).      More ...

Naysayers Are Wrong: The Virtues of Mediation
The National Law Journal
May 12, 2003
Since the last quarter of the 20th century, alternative forms of dispute resolution (collectively known as ADR) have come to play an increasing role in the handling of conflict in various settings.... Nonetheless, opinions about the desirability of this development differ sharply. Myself a mediator, I believe the ayes have it — subject only to a few caveats.      More ...

Employment Mediation in the Twenty-First Century: Challenges in a Changing Environment
University of Pennsylvania Journal of Labor and Employment Law
Spring 2003
In recent years, two major changes have been taking place in the job environment. These involve the nature of the workplace as well as the nature of workplace disputes over claimed violations of anti-discrimination laws. Together, these changes have had a profoundly negative impact on the ability of litigation brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and similar statutes, to address job-connected complaints.     More ...

Civilians Versus Police: Mediation Can Help Bridge the Divide
Negotiation Journal
July 2000
The increasing frequency of notorious cases of conflicts between police officers and members of the general public is cause for alarm. A number of communities, including New York City, are turning to mediation to provide a forum for the potential resolution of complaints made against police by citizens. After a brief survey of the work of such programs nationally, the author focuses on three New York cases in which she served as a mediator; using them to illustrate the pitfalls and special rewards of mediating in this context.     More ...