Mediator Evaluation of Online Dispute Resolution at the EEOC

Mediators at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC’) completed a detailed online survey on the use of online video mediation (“OVM”). The measures sought to measure perceptions of procedural and distributive outcomes and to compare the detailed process elements of IPM and OVM. The data show that the overwhelming majority of mediators embrace OVM, reporting a new breadth of methods including increased caucusing intensity and document sharing; a maximization of scheduling flexibility including expedited reconvening, the ability to reconvene for “one more shot” at resolution, flexibility in part and other participant attendance, a safe space for some of the mediations where parties did not want to share the same location, quality resolutions, and other process advantages over IPM. Mediators did not observe “Zoom fatigue”, power imbalance, or other process concerns raised by practitioners and scholars at the onset of OVM. Mediators also report the work-life balance benefits of OVM for their profession. Those mediators who mediate in other forums reported that these results were generalizable to these forums. These data suggest that OVM is a new and sustainable mediation model for, at minimum, employment disputes