Section 6-B606. MEDIATION PROGRAM

606.1   All appeals from adverse actions filed on or after October 1, 2011, will be subject to mandatory mediation.

606.2The Office shall exert every possible effort to resolve matters by mediation, to the extent possible, rather than through litigation.

606.3The Executive Director shall designate an Administrative Judge to implement the mediation program of the Office.

606.4The Administrative Judge responsible for mediation shall review the appeals pending in the Office and assign cases to the mediator where there is a reasonable likelihood of settlement to the mediation.

606.5Any party may file a request for mediation with the Office which, upon the consent of all parties, shall place the matter on the mediation docket.

606.6The Administrative Judge responsible for mediation shall assign the matter to a mediator who shall promptly convene a conference for the purpose of attempting to reach a voluntary resolution of the appeal. The Administrative Judge assigned to an appeal may not serve as mediator on that appeal. A mediator may not be called as a witness in any proceeding concerning matters raised in a case to which he or she is assigned to attempt mediation.

606.7The employee and his or her representative shall attend the conference. A representative of the agency with authority to approve a settlement by the agency shall either attend the conference or be available by telephone at the time set for and throughout the conference. The parties shall engage in good-faith efforts to resolve the matter.

606.8If the mediator finds that a party has failed to engage in settlement discussions in good faith (including a failure to have available a representative with authority to settle), the mediator shall submit such a finding to the Administrative Judge supervising the mediation docket, who may enter such sanctions against the party as may be appropriate to further the objectives of the mediation program.

606.9The discussions at the conference and the offers of the parties shall be confidential and may not be offered or received into evidence or otherwise disclosed in subsequent adjudication or litigation.

606.10Upon the failure of the parties to reach a settlement through mediation, the mediator shall refer the matter to the Administrative Judge assigned to said matter for adjudication.

606.11If the parties reach a settlement, the matter shall be dismissed in accordance with D.C. Official Code § 1-606.06(b) (2006 Repl.).

authority

The Chairperson of the Office of Employee Appeals in accordance with §602 of the District of Columbia Government Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act of 1978, effective March 3, 1979 (D.C. Law 2-139; D.C. Official Code § 1-606.02(a)(5) (2006 Repl.).

source

As amended by Final Rulemaking published at 46 DCR 9297 (November 19, 1999); as amended by Notice of Final Rulemaking published at 59 DCR 2129, 2131 (March 16, 2012).

EditorNote

Notice of Final Rulemaking published at 2129 (March 16, 2012) repealed and replaced the existing chapter 16 with a new chapter 16 (Rules and Regulations of the Office of Employee Appeals). Sections 606-635 were renamed, and section 636 was repealed.