ADA Mediation: Help for Mediators and Parties

Dispute Resolution Journal, Aug-Oct 2005

Three federal agencies (the National Council on Disability, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Justice) jointly released new guidance about workplace disputes involving individuals with disabilities. The guidance, which is in the form of questions and answers, is intended to help parties and mediators by identifying best practices.

A central principle of the guidance is that accommodating a person with a disability is "something that can be easily accomplished." Another is that not a lot of effort is needed to make mediation accessible for a person with disabilities. Mediators are legally obligated to provide an accommodation necessary for parties to fully participate in mediation. The guidance suggests how an accommodation can be accomplished.

The guidance says that mediators should explain the mediation process to all parties and ask them if there's anything they might need to help them "participate effectively." "Since," the guidance notes, "many disabilities are not obvious," mediators are not supposed to limit their inquiry to "parties whose potential need for accommodation is immediately apparent." The guidance also recommends that a party with a disability "let the mediation provider know as soon as possible that [he or she] may need an accommodation."