We discussed a few weeks ago a survey conducted and disseminated by Merrily Archer about EEOC mediations. Her position: the EEOC mediators do all they can to push a settlement, including various threats of litigation and EEOC enforcement. In fact, she said that with ADR being the EEOC’s “biggest cash cow,” to settle cases for as mcuh as possible EEOC mediators capitalize on employer insecurity, fear of the costs of defense, and threat of EEOC enforcement actions.

 

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Apparently apropos to that post, Gene Bone, Director of  First Aid in Employment/Labor Problems at HR Bandaid in the Indianapolis area, provided the following advice (which we do not necessarily agree with, but he claims to have had success, so who are we to argue):

“Best defense in EEOC charges … don’t use an attorney unless really necessary. Keep the responses to the charges on the same level as the charging party.   Deny, deny, deny… and keep answers simple when responding.

Don’t involve too much “manucha” [minutia?] and names of “other employees” in the response.  Attorneys’ names on responses signals “deep pockets” of the respondent.

Stay calm, breathe a bit, and only respond to charges as posed.

Trust me … I have had over 156 of charges found with “No Probable Cause” to continue.”