Volume
1, Number 4, Nov/Dec 2000
Cornell-Based
Alliance Receives Large DOL Grant
A
$1.1 million U.S. Department of Labor
grant has been awarded to the Cornell University-based
Alliance for Education in Dispute Resolution. The Alliance
is a national consortium of 16 universities and professional
organizations that trains people in mediation and other
"alternative dispute resolution" methods.
The grant will explore the use of mediation
to resolve employment disputes on such laws as the Family
Medical Leave Act, wage and hour legislation and various
whistleblower statutes. Cornell's Institute for Conflict
Resolution (ICR) will administer the grant, develop
a national roster of mediators and train them in pertinent
federal employment laws as well as mediation processes.
The group also will research the effectiveness of mediation
in resolving employment disputes.
The outsourced mediation project is an unprecedented
move for the DOL and is expected to save time and money
and produce solutions more acceptable to both sides
of disputes than court-litigated rulings, the high-priced
alternative. It also will help the agency respond to
the flood of claims arising from recent employment legislation.
Alliance for Education in Dispute
Resolution Member Organizations
Universities:
Cornell University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology;
University of Missouri; Georgia State University; Willamette
University; University of Illinois; Pepperdine University;
Ohio State University; University of California at Los
Angeles.
Professional Organizations:
American Bar Association, Section of Labor and Employment
Law; National Bar Association; National Academy of Arbitrators;
Industrial Relations Research Association; Society of
Federal Labor Relations Professionals; Federal Mediation
and Conciliation Service; Society of Professionals in
Dispute Resolution.
For More information, visit the Alliance
website at http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/alliance.
