when we filed (3 years ago) it was called mediation. I am a trained
mediator in a school system, and I am a first hand witness to the fact
that OCR's version of "mediation" is NOT mediation.
In our case, it was done only by phone, and the "mediator" who was also
the "investigator" would phone us, then phone the univ. (the accused --
athough I"m still not clear on legal terms, so bear with me), then phone
us back. His investigation felt more like intimidation.
He was an arguable person, he phoned me very early in the morning, even
when I'd told him that I was home ill, he phoned me at work (which I'd
said was ok) for lengthy conversations, then would phone me back 5 min.
later. HE chipped away at me until there was nothing left.
We "lost" the claim, as the univ. AFTER 9 months and $3000 in legal fees,
finally removed the person in question from his position (resident advisor
-- a student employed by the univ) about 3 weeks before the end of hte
school year -- when it was far too little, far too late.
a terrible, and truamatic situation -- one I would NEVER go through again,
no matter how awful the circumstances were. His insensitivity felt almost
as bad as the initial incident.
Cheryl McLaughlin <mclaughl@cats1.admin.pps.pgh.pa.us>