Continental Ballroom 6 Hilton San Francisco and Towers Ballroom Level
Section on Employment Discrimination Law David L. Gregory, St. John's University, Chair Elaine W. Shoben, University of Illinois, Program Chair
Alternative Resolution of Employment Discrimination Claims: American and Australian Experiences
Moderator:
Elaine W. Shoben, University of Illinois
Speakers:
Sara Adler, Arbitrator and Mediator, Resolution Resources, Inc., Los Angeles, California Laura J. Cooper, University of Minnesota Rosemary C. Hunter, Professor and Director, Socio-Legal Research Centre, Griffith Law School, Nathan, Queensland, Australia
This panel concerns the alternative dispute resolution of employment discrimination claims. It begins with an historical perspective on ADR and employment discrimination pedagogy by Professor cooper, co-author of a newly published book, Workplace ADR Simulations that accompanies Cooper, Nolan and Bales' ADR in the Workplace. She will focus on the evolution of instruction in this area.
The next speaker is Professor Hunter. She is the author of numerous books and articles on employment discrimination, including a comparative perspective. Professor Hunter has most recently collected data on the effectiveness of the alternative dispute resolution process for employment anti-discrimination claims in Australia. Australia has a two-stage process: it begins with mandatory conciliation by complaint-handling agencies, which, if it fails, is followed by a hearing by an informal specialist tribunal. Professor Hunter has collected data on both stages of the process and has practical as well as theoretical comments on the operation of their system.
Following this report on the Australian experience, se will hear about current American practice from an active arbitrator and mediator, Sara Adler, who practices in Los Angeles. She has been a full-time neutral member of the governing Council of the American Bar Association's Section of Labor & Employment Law and neutral liaison to the Alliance in Employment Dispute Resolution. Ms. Adler is a member of the Executive committee of the Board of Directors of the American Arbitration Association and serves on its Employment and Labor-Management Taskforces. She is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Law and member of the Editorial Board of CCH's "Journal on Alternative Dispute Resolution in Employment." She is a frequent lecturer on ADR topics.
The panel will conclude with a comparative comment on dispute resolution from the perspective of systems that are not rooted in Anglo-American jurisprudential assumptions.