Sec. 14.32.07.01. Mediation

A. Offer of or Request for Mediation.

(1) The Board may, on its own initiative, offer mediation to the parties. Either party may also request that the Board appoint a mediator. Acceptance of an offer of mediation or agreement to participate in mediation is voluntary. If either party declines mediation after it has been requested by a party or offered by the Board, that party shall decline the mediation services in writing with a brief statement of the reason for declining to participate in mediation.

(2) An original and one copy of the request for mediation shall be filed with the Board and served on the other party.

B. Mediation. Mediation is a consensual process by which the parties are assisted by a mediator in voluntarily arriving at an agreement and under which neither party is nor can be compelled to make a concession or enter into an agreement.

C. Appointment of Mediator. Upon receipt of a request for mediation, the Chairman may, with the consent of both parties and after consultation with the parties, appoint an impartial and disinterested individual as mediator, including a member of the Board, or may request mediation by Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services.

D. Confidential Nature of Mediation.

(1) Any information, either written or oral, disclosed by the parties to the mediator in the performance of mediation duties may not be discussed by the mediator voluntarily or by compulsion unless approved by the parties involved.

(2) The mediator may not disclose any information with regard to any mediation conducted on behalf of any party to any cause pending in a proceeding before a court, Board, or investigatory body. The mediator shall respectfully decline, by reason of this regulation, to divulge any information disclosed by a party in the performance of the mediator's duties.

(3) The request for mediation and the parties' responses are confidential and may not be disclosed by any party.