Just when you think you’ve seen it all, along comes something new! In a recently mediated case with our office, an individual had filed suit against a company claiming race discrimination in his dismissal. Both the individual (we’ll call him Jim) and the company (let’s use Acme, Inc.) came to the mediation without attorneys. Jim was seeking monetary damages for his experience. After only an hour, in the resolution phase, Acme offered to re-hire Jim at the best terms possible given the constraints of a union contract. Jim said fine, but he wanted to discuss it with his attorney before signing the agreement.
A few days later, Jim calls our office and says that his attorney thinks it was too "easy" and that the company would probably be willing to pay Jim something in addition to re-hiring him. Jim promised to call back after discussing a possible follow-up session with the attorneys present
Yet a few days later, Jim calls in and announces that he is moving to Texas! He says that he still believes the company should pay him some money, but that he is going to sign the agreement anyway because he appreciated the way he was treated in the mediation process! He says that he felt that the mediators tried to get him a "fair shake" and that instead of just leaving town and leaving the case unresolved, he will sign the agreement, closing the case for everyone.
The moral of the story from a mediator’s perspective is that sometimes, the process is more important than the outcome. Even though in his heart Jim felt he deserved some monetary compensation for his case (his case appeared weak to both mediators, although we did not share that with him) he was willing to bring closure to the case and allow for the possibility of being rehired by Acme if he returned to town. Most people would have just left town and left the case hanging. But because he felt he was treated fairly and compassionately, he felt invested in bringing closure to the case. These are the types of experiences that make a mediator’s work feel worthwhile, in the midst of much conflict and stress.
Thank you for your interest in this story.