Increasing Diversity in Court and Workplace Mediations
Mediation is a method that attorneys often favor as a way to guide clients toward early dispute resolution. Working with a neutral mediator, the parties are able to set forth the strengths and weaknesses of their position in a confidential environment. The mediator helps facilitate communication, helping to keep emotions calm, and engaging in an objective discussion with both parties. Increasingly, mediations are also being used outside the courtroom, for issues such as resolving family conflict around an estate plan, or mitigating workplace conflict when two parties are struggling to work together effectively due to mutual resentments.
Data suggests mediation is an effective technique to resolve claims. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently published its data for all mediations conducted during the calendar year 2020. That year, the EEOC conducted 9,036 mediations, 6,272 of which reached a resolution: an impressive success rate of nearly 70%.
Although the statistics indicate a generally high mediation success rate, the lack of ethnic diversity among mediators leaves one wondering if this success rate could be improved. The racial profile of mediators does not come close to matching the ethnic makeup of California or the United States. The Public Policy Institute of California reports that 39% of the state’s residents are Latinx, 35% are white, 15% are Asian American or Pacific Islander, and 5% are Black. According to the United States Census Bureau’s data from 2020, approximately 61.6% of US residents are white, 18.7% are Hispanic or Latinx, 14.2% are African American, and 7.2% are Asian.
The picture among mediators is quite different. A recent demographic poll of mediators in the US found that nearly 80% of all mediators in the country are white. Hispanic or Latinx mediators make up 7% of all mediators nationwide, while approximately 6% of US mediators are Asian American and 5.5% are Black.
At the same time, we’re seeing more litigation around issues of implicit bias based on race and ethnicity. Maier Law Group has noted a marked increase in workplace complaints around implicit bias, as well as more frequent requests for workplace investigators of color—to ensure a complainant feels she is speaking to a sympathetic audience with first-hand knowledge of the kinds of experiences she relates. It makes sense that as implicit bias and other ethnic discrimination cases move into the litigation realm, complainants in these matters will feel more ease and trust in the mediation process if they feel the mediator understands their concern based on shared experience. Perhaps anecdotal as well as numerical evidence in this regard will provide the added impetus that government-sponsored mediation programs need to pull out all the stops in seeking diverse candidates.
Author: Kristi Tremble, Senior Counsel and Carl Nestler, Intern
Please contact the team at Maier Law Group if you would like to learn more about our court and workplace mediations practice. We invite you to reach out to us at info@maierlawgroup.com for more information.
This article has been prepared for general informational purposes only and does not constitute advertising, solicitation, or legal advice. If you have questions about a particular matter, please contact the Maier Law Group directly.