Okay.
The room looks good.
I will sit here at the end of the table,
which gives me access to the door.
I'll have the complainant sit on my right
and the management officials sit on my left.
I have paper and pencils for each of them,
and we have a phone in case that we need to contact any expert.
I have my notes in my trifold
and my opening statement.
I have evaluation forms and the
agencies settlement agreement template.
I think that's everything I'll need.
Time to meet the parties and get started.
Hi, you must be Captain Anderson and Mr. Smth.
Welcome, please come in.
Captain Anderson, if you could please sit down in this chair
and Mr. Smith on the other side of the table, please.
Thank you.
Well, good morning.
Good morning. Good morning.
My name is Melita Wakefield, and I am a certified mediator,
trained to hear disputes like the one I am assisting you with today.
So feel free to call me Ms. Wakefield.
Okay. Okay.
Before we begin, I would like to read an opening statement.
That way, you know the ground rules and the procedure for this mediation.
Okay. Okay.
Are you both available
for at least 4 hours today and possibly longer if needed?
Yes, I am. Okay.
Yeah.
Great!
Do you each have settlement authority
and the ability to sign a binding settlement agreement?
If resolution is reached?
Yes. Yes, I do. Okay.
I assume that you are here voluntarily, is that correct?
Yes. Okay.
I do have a copy here of the agreement to mediate
that was forwarded to me from the ABR manager.
Are these your signatures?
Yes.
Okay, great.
Wonderful. That's awesome. Okay.
I am not acquainted
with either of you prior to this meeting, and I am not aware
of any conflicts of interest on my part.
Do either of you feel that there may be any conflicts of interest
from your own perspective?
No, I'm aware of. No.
No. Wonderful.
Well, let me begin by congratulating you
both on your decision to participate in this process.
My role as third party neutral is to assist you
by controlling the mediation process with an aim towards
creating an environment conducive to exploring options
and possibly reaching a mutually acceptable resolution.
I have no powers
to force a decision on you
or to decide how this matter should be settled.
That is totally up to you.
I am simply here
to help facilitate communication.
Also, please remember that this is not a court or a legal proceeding.
I am not a judge or advocate for either party.
As such, the rules of evidence do not apply.
The confidentiality provisions
of the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of 1996.
apply to this mediation and focus primarily
on protecting private communications between parties and the mediator.
Generally speaking,
whatever you tell me during this process
will be kept confidential.
However, there are exceptions to this rule.
For example, if you confess to the commission
of a criminal offense, an act of fraud, waste or abuse,
or that you plan to commit a violent
physical act, I may be required
to share this information with appropriate authorities.
I will not willingly testify
for or against either party
in an administrative or court proceeding
regarding the information unique to this mediation.
However,
in unusual circumstances,
a judge can order disclosure of information
that will prevent a manifest injustice,
help establish a violation of law,
or prevent harm to public health and safety.
Do you understand this?
Oh, yes, I do.
Okay.
Here are some of the ground rules that will apply to this session.
First, in order to minimize
distractions, please turn off your cell phones
or recording devices in your possession.
Thank you.
It is important that you follow my directions.
I expect you to participate in good faith
and show mutual respect for one another at all times.
Therefore, I ask that you not interrupt
while others are talking.
If you have questions or comments about what is being said,
please write them down and they can be addressed at the appropriate time.
I am providing you with
pencil and paper for this purpose.
However, in order to maintain
confidentiality before you leave today, I will collect
and destroy all notes, including my own.
In the event
that we have to schedule a subsequent session
to complete this process, I collect all notes
and lock them in a secure place until we reconvene.
Here are the procedures that will follow.
I will first ask each of you to make opening remarks
concerning the situation as you understand it.
It is customary
for the person raising the issue to begin.
So in this case,
Mr. Smith, you will speak first without interruption.
When you have completed your remarks,
I will then ask Captain Anderson
to make a statement without interruptions.
Again, if you like to respond to something that is said,
please write it down and you can do so at the appropriate time.
Following opening remarks,
you will have an opportunity to dialog
and explore possible options for resolution.
I ask that each of you think of how
you might like to resolve this matter as we proceed.
At some point I might ask to meet with each of you
separately, or you may ask to meet with me separately.
This is called a caucus,
and is designed to help
clarify any concerns, questions that I might have
and allows me to assist you
in exploring possible resolutions options.
It also offers you an opportunity
to confer with me
if you think that it will be beneficial.
if a caucus is called,
I will again start with the person raising the issue
or the person asking for it.
Please do not assign any significance to the length of time
I may spend with one party or the other,
as it will have no effect on my neutrality.
What we discuss during caucus is confidential.
However, I may ask your permission
to share certain information if I believe
it will help move the process forward.
But I will share only the information
that you authorized me to.
Should an agreement be reached today,
It will be captured in writing and each of you
ask to verify and sign it.
I will provide you a copy before you leave here today.
Please be aware that appropriate coordination
may be required for the agreement to become binding.
And if so, this will be noted in the agreement.
If no agreement is reached and you decide to pursue this matter
either in an administrative or judicial process,
this mediation will in no way
delay or interfere with your right to do so.
Further, I will not
disclose to anyone information about this mediation
other than the fact that resolution was attempted and not achieved.
We will take breaks as needed.
There are restrooms in the hallway around the corner
and we are not allowed to drink
or eat in this room.
Are there any special needs
or considerations that I should be aware of,
or do you have any questions about what I have explained?
No, I'm good.
None at this time. Okay.
So before we begin, I would like to disclose that
sometimes when I am actively listening,
I have a tendency to nod my head and say okay,
please be mindful that doesn’t mean
that I'm agreeing with any of the parties,
that's just a normal tendency, natural tendency that I have.
Okay.
Well, it seems like we are ready to begin.
So let's proceed with an opening statement from Mr. Smith.
Okay thank you.
You’re welcome.
I think we should start with a little background about myself
and that I'll help you understand the situation a little better.
I'm an I.T. specialist, and I work for DATA.
Are you familiar with DATA?
Yes. Okay.
The Defense Application’s Technology Agency.
Okay.
I've been with DATA for 23 years.
And if you do the math,
that means that when DATA started doing I.T. work, I was there.
So I know everything there is about the I.T.
work at DATA.
I helped install it,
I helped it grow,
I know the processes and procedures.
I know all that stuff about the organization.
Throughout the years that I've been there
since the first year, 23 years,
I have received nothing but five ratings on my performance reports.
And if you're familiar with the performance reports,
it's a five scale basis, starting one with the lowest meaning you're doing poor
and five the top rating, which means you're doing outstanding.
And as I said, for 23 years,
I received nothing but five ratings.
For all those years.
That was up until about nine months ago when I got a new supervisor.
On my last performance report I got a three, an overall three,
which means I'm doing average.
The work that I perform has not changed.
Everything that I do is exactly the way it's been,
“outstanding” for the last 23 years.
Always on time, always the best performance.
But now it's just average and I'm not happy about that.
What changed, as I said, was my supervisor. And my supervisor,
this is the first time she's ever supervised civilians.
And so I get to be the guinea pig on her
learning on how to grade civilians.
And that has harmed me.
And I'm not happy about that.
On top of that,
my opinion, not ever asked for.
We're told what to do,
I'm told what to do and how to do it.
And the communications flow is nonexistent.
It’s one way.
“This is what I want you to do . . .”
not: “How do you think we should do things?”
This is something, a new task we've gotten.
And I'm curious.
I need your help.
How do you think we should do it?
It's always “This is the way to do it.”
She doesn't listen at all
to what we have to say.
Another thing that's a problem,
is that all of us, me included, we're being told
we have to go to training in Fort Gordon for three weeks.
I cannot do that because it's in March.
That's a problem. I cannot do it.
In no way can I go to Fort Gordon for three weeks in March.
That's just it.
I'm not sure why
my performance report reflects threes.
I think it has a lot to do with my age.
My supervisor
is in a different generation that I'm in.
She's in the “discard it” generation.
And as far as I can see, because of the what
I perceive as disrespect for me
because of my age,
That is not true.
Captain Anderson, I would like at this moment to remind you of the ground rules.
Please annotate any comments that you have and you will have an opportunity to address this.
My apologies.
Thank you, ma'am.
As I was saying,
I think it's because of my age, different generation.
You know, this is the generation where something new comes along,
we throw the old stuff away and we put the new stuff in place.
And I think that's what the plan is here.
The plan is to get rid of me because I'm older than the rest of the people here.
And they want to get rid of me because I'm just too old now.
I think really that what's going on is because,
as I said, I've been here since the beginning of I.T. in DATA.
I think they're threatened by me.
I think she has a problem with me because I know everything,
and she's not necessary.
And lastly, one of the things that really upset me about
my performance report is because I got a three on it.
I'm not eligible for a cash incentive.
That cash incentive has been a major reason for me performing at my level.
My my salary is fixed.
I don't get
a lot of overtime.
We're very restricted there.
So the only way that I can make extra money,
if you will, on my job is to do an exceptional job
and to look forward to the cash bonus at the end of the year.
And that is the major reason why I am upset here today.
If I can recap everything,
it looks like this.
What I want is I want my performance
report to be rescheduled or re evaluated.
I cannot go through the training
for three weeks at Fort Gordon.
And lastly,
I want
somehow
for the organization to make up
the cash bonus that I've lost.
And one more thing, communication.
As long as we're talking about it, let's . . . let's do that.
I want to talk.
I want some way somehow
to have a voice in what's going on.
I'm being completely ignored.
There's no communications.
The only communication that exists is one way . . .
she speaks, I listen, that's the end of it.
There's no two way communication going on here.
No feedback whatsoever. All one way.
So in a nutshell, that's what I'm looking for.
Okay.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
All right Captain Anderson,
this is your opportunity to address his concerns.
Okay. Well, um . . .
I am the new to DATA.
I've been the director of the I.T. department for the past nine months,
and I'm currently supervising both civilian and military employees.
First, the issue with the training.
The training at DATA is
to support the new technology
that is coming into the organization from my superior.
He's directed me to ensure that we come up to speed
and that everyone has to attend training.
So the training is a must requirement.
The second concern is performance.
I grade performance on a 1 to 5 scale,
“one” being lowest, and “five” being the highest.
A “one” will receive a rating of “poor.”
A “two” is “below average.”
A “three” is considered “average performance,”
pretty much meaning that you come to work and do the duty requirements
that you do, nothing above or excelling.
A “four” is “above average.”
That's a little bit above the day to day
normal normalcies in a job and a “five” is “outstanding”,
and you just - you perform at that optimum level all the time
with everything and you and you‘re eager and you want it more.
That standard is based off of my training I received with the Supervisor development course
and referencing all regulatory guidance before I put that rating into effect.
I haven’t been supervising GS employees this is my first.
That's why I made sure I was trained and it's a requirement for the position.
Um, so I do need the assistance
of my employees as I'm charged with
what tasks in which direction, which the Command is going.
And I expect to have that being the supervisor.
Right now is a changing report
the report . . .
It stands it's in accordance with the reg,
the training, he will have to attend the training.
And as far as communication . . .
As soon as I've been directed to do something,
I'm shooting out emails and making sure they are aware
and giving them the actual timelines when things are actually due.
So there is a form of communication that is actually are going on.
He's actually one of the top performers
in the section and, and he has been there for a while, which provides
that continuity for the section,
but also with a change in leadership.
There's also a change in direction.
And we all must be willing to move in that direction when there's change.
Okay.
Mr. Smith, at this time would you like to answer or . . .
Oh you bet I would!
Okay.
Let's start with the last one moving in the right direction.
How do you think we got here?
We got here because of me DATA got where we are because of me!
But wasn't moving in the right direction.
I wouldn't have been here.
I made that happen.
We don't need you . . . that the only purpose you have
is to communicate between your Colonel and us.
Tell the Colonel, give us another worker
down here and we'll talk to him directly.
You want communication, that's all we need.
Because if you're only going to send emails to us, that's worthless.
That's one way. That's what I'm talking about.
You do not communicate.
I’m concerned with what’s going on the in the environment.
I am the one who attends the staff meetings.
I cannot take my entire section to the staff meeting.
So after attending the staff meeting yes, I send out an email
and that email is just me passing the information on from the director.
That's all that email is . . .
Do you think your boss doesn't need
the feedback from us on how things are going?
You don't even ask that.
Right now that’s what we’re being directed to do.
You never ask us how things are going.
That's part of the problem we've gotten with one way communication.
Okay at this time, it seems like to me
that communication is a concern.
So I would like to ask a clarifying question.
Mr. Smith,
Yeah . . .
From your perspective, what effective communication will look like?
Okay.
This is as a minimum, but as a minimum,
here's what I think we should have.
I have no problem
accepting the communications from her.
Her emails are good. That's great.
But I would like to have the opportunity to respond,
preferably face to face, not via email,
Let's say once a week for 15 minutes,
just get together and say this is what's going on.
And then maybe once a month, let's look at the bigger picture.
What have we been doing for the last month?
What are we going to do for the next month?
I've been here 23 years. I take a lot of pride in this organization.
And I want to still be a part of it.
And I want to help you do your job better,
but you're not listening to us.
Okay, so weekly meetings,
the form of communication that is used right now needs to change
if I'm hearing you correctly.
Would you be interested in a weekly meeting
where we sit down and discuss what the Commander's directives is?
That's the same as a email,
but you would like a face to face meeting.
Yeah. I'm not saying stop the emails.
I'm saying come see us, come talk to us, come listen to us.
That's all I'm saying.
Let's plan for 15 minutes once a week
and maybe a little longer than that once a month.
Go from the tactical to the strategic.
Can we do that?
Okay, that can be considered.
Hot dog, I'm happy!
Okay, it seems like you are establishing timelines
once a week and I would be more
specific in regards to the once a week.
What day of the week will you select to conduct that these meetings?
I think it would be best to put the information out as I receive it.
And we have like a command and staff type meeting like Tuesday morning,
so preferably Tuesday afternoon
to facilitate information to the station.
in a face to face that way it won’t
interfere with ongoing mission or anything like that.
Okay.
Okay, great.
It seems like you already have the communication concern addressed
and you have come to terms to when you're going to meet to address that.
That's wonderful.
Another issue that came was the training at Fort Gordon.
Would you like to dialogue in regards to that?
Well, I can tell you right now that's a nonstarter.
I'm not going to go three weeks to training.
I support training. That's not the problem.
I can't do three weeks in March.
It's out of the question.
The training is a requirement to bring new technologies online
and to connect the headquarters with its
sub cycle . . .
I don't need to go.
I'll get it from the people who go.
I'll get that training from them.
That's a requirement he has to attend the three week training . . .
No, not going to happen.
I cannot go three weeks . . .
We have to figure it out, how we’re going to do that . . .
Alright, it seems like at this time there is a challenge
in solving this concern.
So I think that this is the perfect time for to call a caucus.
So at this time,
Captain Anderson,
I'd like you to turn your notes over.
Okay.
And I'm going to escort you to the hallway for a moment.
And please do not discuss anything
that we have discussed so far here for confidentiality purposes, okay?
And I will let you in once we are done.
Okay.
Great. Thank you, appreciate it.
Thank you, Ma’am.
Okay.
All right, Mr. Smith,
I want you for a minute to put yourself
in the management position and think from a perspective of mandatory training.
And while you're thinking about that, I do have a clarifying question.
Okay.
Is there anything that is precluding you from going to training?
It depends.
It really does.
As the training that she wants me to attend is in March.
I cannot go in March.
The reason is, is my wife's mother lives with us.
And she requires 24-7 care.
Right now my wife and I alternate.
She works at night.
She takes care of her mother during the day.
I take care of her mother during the night.
There is no way in March we can do that.
Now, I've gone to training before for DATA and that's not a problem.
But the training's always been in the Summer time.
And my son was able to help out.
He's in college right now and he's always been able
to pick up the slack for one of us
on taking care of his grandmother,
my mother in law.
So yeah, March is out of the question.
Three weeks in March is completely out of the question.
Now, if they were to be able to schedule that
say, June-July timeframe, I don't have a problem.
I can do that
as long as my son can be there to pick up where I'm going to be leaving.
So yeah, that's doable, but not in March, no way.
And they were adamant about that.
We all must go.
This goes back to that communication issue.
They're not listening.
They've got an agenda.
They want to shove it through.
And that's the end of the conversation.
They're not listening.
I don't mind going to the training.
I cannot and I will not do it in March.
Okay.
Is Captain Anderson aware of your personal situation?
No, she's not.
I don't think she'd be interested,
and she's never asked and I've never told her.
Okay.
Would you mind if I share that piece of information with her?
I think that sharing your personal perspective with
with your family, it probably help this process to move forward.
Yeah, that's okay.
Okay.
Is there anything else
Is there anything else that you would like to bring to her attention?
Anything else that you would like to add?
Yeah, there is.
And it goes back to my performance report.
I said that . . .
I had I've received “fives” for the last 23 years
and that because she gave me a “three” this time
I wasn't eligible for an incentive bonus.
Okay.
That's really only part of what upset me,
what upset me, and not in addition to not getting the money, was that
in giving me that “three” she's hurt me.
She really has.
It was an insult directly to me that said, “I don't value you.”
Your value has gone down, and
that's really hard for me to take.
It's personal.
It's something that, you know, I don't think she's aware of.
And until I got that “three,” I wasn't aware of it either.
I was just doing the best job I could.
And we were getting very, very good remarks from our customers.
But when I got that “three,” it hurt.
It hurt deep inside I mean . . .
that's all I can tell you.
It's just emotionally, it's just damaging to me.
It is very, very damaging.
And I and I don't like it at all.
Anything else?
I think that pretty well covers it.
The money is an issue,
but also that the part about not being valued.
And being tossed aside. No, I don't like it.
Well Mr. Smith, is there anything that we have discussed so far
that you would not want me to disclose
to Captain Anderson or you don't have any issues
with me talking to her about what we just discussed?
No, I think I think we're okay.
I don't think there was anything we talked about that will hurt me.
Okay. So at this time, I will ask you to please turn your notes over.
And I want to remind you that when you go outside in the hallway,
please keep everything confidential don’t discuss anything with anybody.
All right.
Okay, great.
Well, if you can follow me, sir,
Thank you,
Captain Anderson,
you may come in thank you Ma’am.
All right.
Okay Captain Anderson, I just spoke to Mr. Smith
and he gave me permission to disclose some information with you.
I don't know if you were aware that he has a family situation.
No, I was not informed that he had a family situation at all.
Yes, his mother in law,
she requires 24-7 care, and they have an arrangement.
The wife takes care when he works and when she works,
then he takes care of her so they can have that coverage of 24-7 care.
Okay.
He doesn't mind going to the training at all.
It's just that he was wondering if his son
is coming back from college on June,
if and instead of going on March to the training, he was wondering if,
you know, the arrangements can be made so the son can take his place to take care
for the mother in law.
I don't have a problem with changing his training dates
to accommodate his family need, and I’ll notify my superiors
that he will be doing training, doing a session in June
between maybe the beginning and the end of the month.
I just give him a month in the summertime.
Whatever's convenient with him.
If there's a date that he specifically wants to designate,
then he can attend training at that time.
Okay. Excellent. That's great.
He also mentioned concerns with the cash bonus
because that money, he really looks forward for that money,
especially with his family situation to take care of the family.
And he was wondering about you know
what you know other. . . what else can you do,
you know, to alleviate that?
Mr. Smith, he's been with us for a period of time.
And I can understand how he could he could come to
get comfortable with receiving the cash bonus
based off of his performance rating.
But maybe we need to look at another option.
The cash bonus only comes at the end of the rating period
We could possibly contact H.R.
To see if QSI or quality step increase could be more beneficial to him.
He has been at the job for for the last 23 years.
He is a valuable employee based off his technical expertise.
And as I stated before, he has received
the top rating out of my civilian employees during this timeframe.
So we can look at that as well.
And I know he was also very concerned about his performance eval.
So maybe as we look at other ways to
communicate so that he
knows how to meet those marks that four and five mark, maybe
we can implement like a monthly meeting to basically just go over his performance.
And that way we can account for everything he's doing
and he'll know where to hit the marks at to improve.
If he needs to do just a little bit extra and I'll be willing to do that with him as well.
Okay.
Great.
At this time, is there anything that you would like me to disclose
or either anything that we spoke here that you don't want me to disclose to him
when he comes back?
I’m open for you to disclose all information if need be
I can explain that to him as well.
You've enlightened me on a couple of areas that he was addressing.
So I'll be open to talk to him, speak with him on these things.
That's great. He also mentioned that . . .
emotionally he's a little bit hurt
because he has put so many years into the company
and he doesn't feel now like the value in all that.
So probably you would like to just express this.
He's your top performer.
He has to hear that from you.
I would be willing to address that with him.
He is, he's a valuable asset to the team.
And and I could understand, you know, a new supervisor with new changes,
you know, the willing to adapt.
And I understand the need for communication.
He mentioned that, quite frankly, during a prior dialog conversation.
So I would be interested in actually speaking with him on that
so I could let him know where he stands.
Me being his supervisor he as employee and a member of my team.
Okay, great.
So is there anything else that you would like to add
before I bring him in or are you . . .
No that's everything.
Okay, great. Then I'll bring him in. Be right back.
Mr. Smith, you can come in.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
Okay.
So it was a very good conversation during caucus and
at this time, I would like you to go ahead and have a conversation.
What you expressed to me privately, go ahead and talk amongst each other
and see how you are standing from this point.
If you don't mind, I would like to go first and open up lines of communication.
All right.
All we discussed Mr. Smith is a way to improve communication.
As we addressed it earlier, you asked for more face time instead of an email.
And I'm interested in doing the weekly meetings every Tuesday.
Also, you spoke about your performance evaluation,
and I would be interested in contacting H.R.
to look into getting you a QSI, a quality step increase
since you voiced some concerns about your pay.
Being that you've been here for the past 23 years,
you are a valuable employee and member of the team, and we do appreciate you.
I appreciate you for all that you do.
And I just want to make sure that we're taking care of you,
not just financially, but professionally.
And during those monthly meetings we can discuss
some other career options for you,
so other training to have you
you move up the ladder of success in the government service world.
And as far as the training,
now that I'm aware of your family situation,
I don't see a problem with you attending the training in June
I will let my superior know that is that's the best option for you
to attend that training during that timeframe.
And once again, you are a valuable member of the team.
I do understand that I'm new
to supervising civilians,
but this is my job and
I must do it. So if you are okay with those things,
I think we can come to some type of resolution on issue.
Give me a second I wrote some notes down,
I want to double check just to make sure what we're talking about.
Let's let's take the training one first if we can.
Would that be all right with you?
That's fine.
Okay, so the training that you mandated, everybody take in March.
Yes.
Okay I do not have to go to that,
that three week training at Fort Gordon.
I do not have to go to that?
You don't have to go in March.
Okay.
You can go when there's a time convenient
Given your family circumstances, I'm willing to . . .
You mentioned maybe possibly
maybe possibly a June training date?
That works out much better.
I would like to even leave the whole month open.
So therefore, during the whole month of June,
you can do your three weeks training that way and that way
it won't cause any, any harm to your family situation.
Okay. I'm I appreciate that thank you.
I'm good with moving it to the June timeframe.
And I appreciate the two way open communications you were talking about.
I know that the dates may change a little bit,
but the fact that we're establishing them, I think that's a good idea
And thank you for doing that.
The QSI, I hadn't thought about that but from a monetary perspective
that would do would go a long way to help with the
what I consider to be damage that was done from the performance report.
Is there any way we can check that out now?
Absolutely.
I was going to actually suggest we have a form here available to you
you can call H.R.
and find out if he's eligible for QSI,
then you will know that you can put that in your agreement.
Okay. And we can do that right now.
I have the number.
Thank you.
So after speaking with H.R.
you are eligible for the QSI quality step increase.
I will submit that paperwork by the end of this week
and it will take effect within the next 60 days.
Thank you. I appreciate that.
So, are you okay with that?
I'm good with that.
Okay.
But there's one more thing.
Okay.
That's my performance evaluation.
Try to understand where I'm coming from when I say this.
For 23 years, I've had a perfect record.
Every evaluation I've received has been a “five.”
I've got one in my record that says “not anymore,”
you’re “average” now.
And part of that was about the money,
But there's something else that I need to have you understand.
It's about me as a person.
What you did with that report, you said
“you are now less than what you were.”
That's what that says to me.
My self respect has dropped down significantly because
someone else, my supervisor, evaluated me
and said, “No, you're no longer a five, you're only at three now.”
Well Mr. Smith, you are a valuable member of this agency
and a valued member of the I.T. team.
And after 23 years of being here,
we really appreciate all what you have done.
The performance evaluation has been done acceding to the standard,
and I cannot change that.
However, I can submit you for the
category one “Civilian of the Quarter” award at this time.
That's what I can do.
Because you are a very valuable member of this team.
So I can do that.
Would you be okay with that?
It's not what I was looking for, but in balance it helps me tremendously
and I do appreciate you doing that. So, Okay.
I have no problem
And I will get that award packet together.
I appreciate that very much. Thank You.
Okay.
Excellent.
It seems like you both, by self determination, has come to terms
and reached some parameters here for resolution.
So I'm going to go ahead and start the agreement.
If you don't mind, if you can both stick around.
So if I have any clarifying questions, I can ask you real quick.
So I can capture everything accurately.
Thank you very much.
Okay, I want to thank you both today for coming to this mediation in good faith.
You have reached an agreement and
I would like to go over that agreement to make sure that everything is accurate.
Okay.
In the matter of mediation between Bill Smith and
Defense Applications Technology Agency, the parties noted above
and their representatives have agreed to the following settlement terms.
Number one, the parties agree
that increased communication is necessary and has set aside a specific time
each week Tuesdays at 1300 hours
to discuss what is going on with the team.
Additionally, the parties will meet on the third Thursday
at 9:00 of each month where they will discuss
specific expectations on how
Mr. Smith can receive superior “five” performance ratings.
Number two,
Mr. Smith will attend the Fort Gordon training during the month of June.
Number three, the complainant will receive a quality
step increase in lieu of the cash award
that he missed out on by not receiving a perfect performance evaluation.
But the previous performance evaluation will stand.
Captain Anderson will complete the paperwork
for the QSI by close of business this Friday,
H.R. indicated that it takes approximately 60 days
for the QSI to be processed.
Number four,
Within ten business days, Captain Anderson will submit
Mr. Smith's name for the Category one civilian of the Quarter award.
And number five, Mr. Smith
will withdraw his EEO complaint.
This agreement is not an admission by the agency,
its employees, or any part of a violation of any law, rule, or regulation.
This agreement resolves all issues as of the date
of the execution of this agreement.
No additional complaints, grievances, appeals,
or other similar actions will be filed.
So at this time, I would like to ask some clarifying questions.
I just went over the settlement and I want to make sure that everything
that is on this document is accurate to the terms that you agreed to
on this mediation.
Is that correct?
Yes.
Okay, great. That's wonderful.
So before you sign the document,
please understand that your signatures
indicate that you are agreeing with the terms of this agreement.
And please understand that
this is a legally binding document
if you fail to perform what you agree on this document, that is a
breach of contract and all applicable
penalties will then be in effect.
Okay. Okay.
So this is going to be a legal document.
So if everything is correct please, I need your signatures and dates.
Thank you Mr. Smith.
Appreciate it.
Captain Anderson.
Okay, great.
So this document now is going to go to legal and is going to go
to the ADR management
to check everything.
And if there's no issues, everything is fine,
if there’s any concerns then we’ll reconvene back again
and then we will
pretty much do the document and everything will be done at that point in time.
So I want to thank you both for coming again today and really
by self determination, coming to terms of agreement.
At this time,
I would like to collect all the notes that were taken today, including mine.
I will destroy the notes.
Great.
Thank you so much.
Everything that is on the notes has been captured
on the document.
Wonderful.
So at this time, I do have some assessments,
and you can take this with you.
And this is basically an assessment on the process of mediation for today.
You can turn that into your ADR management.
Okay.
And I want to conclude this session and thank you again for coming in.
Have a wonderful day.
Thank you.