“Don’t rush to mediate that employee complaint”is an intriguing article that demonstrates one situation in which pre-suit mediation is simply not appropriate. Employers need to protect their victim employees in situations where allegations have been investigated and substantiated.
The proper and delicate handling of situations of bullying/harassment can indeed serve to avoid future litigation. Forcing a victim and perpetrator into a room together to work out their differences may indeed have the opposite effect and rather add fuel to the smoldering fire. You might want to check your human resource policies to insure that alternative dispute resolution processes are not inserted too early, before a truly victimized employee has had a chance to feel that their employer is working hard to protect them and make things right. My thanks to Siobhan Flores-Walsh, Australian Business Lawyers, for her insight.