MINUTES FOR THE JULY 16, 1999 MEETING

MINUTES FOR THE JULY 16, 1999 MEETING

Sharon Solomon (EEO Director, Office of Administration, Executive Office of the President) sponsored the meeting, which was held at the White House Conference Center.

President Luther Santiful (Army) opened the meeting at 10:02 am.

Vice-Chair Jorge Ponce (Treasury) introduced the speakers for the day: Sonya Williams, Director of Corporate Affairs and Marketing and Daniel J. Pagnano, Director of Counseling and Complaint Resolution, from Delaney, Siegel, Zorn and Associates (DSZ), Inc. DSZ is a Boston based consulting firm that works in the areas of counseling and dispute resolution, investigations and case analysis, and training and technical assistance. About 95% of DSZ’s workload comprise federal government contracts. The DSZ representatives spoke about how to set up alternative dispute resolution programs within the federal sector. The topic of the briefing was particularly relevant because of the new 1614 regulations that were released July 12, 1999, by the EEOC that call for the establishment of ADR Program options by January 1, 2000, at both the pre-complaint and formal complaint stages.

An ADR that best suits your agency’s needs must conform to EEOC’s ADR Policy, must not have required options, and must not have required formats. There are many benefits to ADR, for instance they can improve efficiencies of cost and time in EEO complaint management, without sacrificing equity. In addition, when it is introduced properly, an ADR can speed the processing of EEO complaints and advance resolution options. Some other benefits of ADR are that it allows agencies to facilitate early resolution by moving amenable cases to a resolution track, it eliminates guilt or innocence as factors in resolution, it is an informal and non-adversarial process, and it fosters an internal environment responsive to ADR concepts.

It was noted that mediation has become increasingly used in EEO complaints processing. A brief discussion and debate ensued concerning the positive and negative values of using a mediator with an EEO background. It was the consensus of the group that it mattered not what one’s EEO qualifications were, but rather how the individual can get the matter at hand worked out. The presenters mentioned that DSZ looks at the culture of the agency when designing a program to include mediation. For more information about contacting DSZ and the services offered, please go to the Services file in the Council’s Announcements directory.

Bonita V. White (DHHS) opined that it appears that ADR is the current buzz in this area and that it is replacing a process with another process, because there are so many steps that go into implementing ADR programs.

It was mentioned that Bowie State University and George Mason University have excellent local mediation programs. It was also noted that Deborah Laufer [deborah.laufer@erols.com] is a good resource for information on ADR programs.

The discussion then changed to the NPR/EEOC Interagency Federal EEO Task Force. Charlie Miller (DOD) briefed the group, noting that the objective had narrowed significantly from "Reinventing the Complaint Process" as briefed to the Council at the March 25, 1999 meeting to "Improve the Fairness and Efficiency of the Federal Sector EEO Process and Stimulate Changes that will Prevent Discrimination." The Task Force will take the process as modified by the 1614 changes published July 12, 1999, as a given. The modified mandate for the Task Force provides four issue-specific teams. The Early Dispute Resolution Team will deal with ADR. The Dispute Prevention Team will work on preventing complaints. The Best Practice Team will do benchmarking and look at ways to apply computer technology to the process. Finally, the Data Collection Team will look at recommendations in the GAO report on EEOC data quality. It was mentioned that with the way the data is collected now, no one is able to tell how many individuals are filing complaints versus how many complaints are filed. These teams are scheduled to begin meeting by the end of July 1999 and are to report to the Task Force by the end of March 2000. Then the overall Task Force will have until July 2000 to submit its recommendations. There is also a Pilot Project Team that comprises agencies that have pilot projects in the complaint area. The Pilot Projects results will also be incorporated into the Task Force report. It was noted that the timeliness for these efforts are less than ideal, since the complaints process changes in November 1999 will be right in the middle of the working period for the Teams (July 1999 and March 2000).

Brenda Gooch (Peace Corps) suggested that the Council establish a working committee on ADR implementation. Brenda Gooch (Peace Corps), Jack Gravely (FCC), and Rosalyn Hoover (Commerce) volunteered to serve on this committee.

Jack Gravely commended Jorge Ponce for his excellent work on the creation of the Council’s webpage and for his timely maintenance of it. Jorge mentioned that they were receiving membership applications from all over the country, and he urged Council members to continue to publicize the webpage.

On Wed., July 21, the EEOC will have a briefing on the 1614 regulations at 9:00 at the EEOC (1801 M. Street). They ask that only one person from each agency attend.

It was also announced that on July 27, at 9:30, there would be the OPM/ ADR Awards Ceremony where Janet Reno, U.S. Attorney General, is scheduled to speak.

There will be no meeting in August. Delia Johnson (USIA) will host the next meeting on September 22, 1999 from 9-11, at 301 4^th St. NW, Room 800-A. (Federal Center SW Metro Station). Bonita V. White volunteered to host the October meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 12:07.