CCM Legal and Ethical Considerations in Conflict Management 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A neutrality agreement signed before mediation typically does NOT protect disclosures made:
- During a joint session
- In a private caucus with the mediator
- In a written submission to the mediator
- During the commission of a future crime (Correct answer)
Correct answer: During the commission of a future crime
Confidentiality provisions do not extend to communications that involve the planning or commission of future crimes or fraud.
Question 2: Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, workplace conflict managers must be aware that retaliation against an employee for filing an EEOC complaint is:
- Permissible if the complaint was found to lack merit
- A separate and independently actionable legal violation (Correct answer)
- Only actionable if it results in termination
- Governed exclusively by state law
Correct answer: A separate and independently actionable legal violation
Title VII's anti-retaliation provision is independent of the underlying discrimination claim, meaning retaliation itself is a distinct unlawful employment practice.
Question 3: An arbitrator who imposes a binding decision on parties without their prior consent to arbitration most likely violates which principle?
- Procedural justice
- Voluntary participation (Correct answer)
- Neutrality
- Competence
Correct answer: Voluntary participation
Binding arbitration requires prior informed consent from all parties; imposing it without consent violates the voluntariness principle of ADR.
Question 4: The Uniform Mediation Act (UMA) provides mediator privilege primarily to:
- Allow mediators to testify about party statements to assist courts
- Protect mediators from being compelled to testify about mediation communications (Correct answer)
- Grant parties the right to subpoena the mediator's notes
- Require mediators to report settlement terms to courts
Correct answer: Protect mediators from being compelled to testify about mediation communications
The UMA's mediator privilege shields mediators from being compelled to disclose what was said during mediation in subsequent legal proceedings.
Question 5: Which of the following scenarios best illustrates a 'dual role' ethical conflict for a conflict manager?
- A mediator who also provides legal advice to one party during the same dispute (Correct answer)
- A mediator who uses both facilitative and evaluative techniques
- A mediator who conducts sessions in both English and Spanish
- A mediator who handles both employment and commercial disputes
Correct answer: A mediator who also provides legal advice to one party during the same dispute
Serving as both mediator and legal adviser to one party in the same dispute creates an impermissible dual role that compromises neutrality.
Question 6: In employment conflict resolution, the doctrine of 'at-will employment' is most relevant to disputes involving:
- Discrimination based on a protected class
- Terminations without a stated cause in non-contract situations (Correct answer)
- Union grievance arbitration procedures
- FMLA leave violations
Correct answer: Terminations without a stated cause in non-contract situations
At-will employment allows employers to terminate employees without cause, unless a protected class, contract, or public policy exception applies.
Question 7: A conflict manager's ethical duty of 'competence' requires that the practitioner:
- Only accept cases in areas where they have sufficient knowledge and skill (Correct answer)
- Guarantee a successful resolution to every mediation
- Provide legal advice when no attorney is present
- Maintain neutrality even when a party requests advocacy
Correct answer: Only accept cases in areas where they have sufficient knowledge and skill
Competence requires practitioners to assess whether they have the necessary skills and knowledge before accepting a particular type of case.
CCM Legal and Ethical Considerations in Conflict Management 3
A neutrality agreement signed before mediation typically does NOT protect disclosures made: