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Conflict Management E-Newsletter
September 2002 #32
------------------------------------------------------------------ Contents: 1. Articles
2. Northern California Human Resource Association Conference
and Trade Show
3. Supreme Court Defines Time Limits On Title VII Claims
4. Training Announcements
5. Wellness Practices for Teams
6. Unprecedented Award In Sexual Harassment Suit Reduced
7. Quotes
8. New Book: The Nitty-Gritty Of EEO For The Federal Employee
9. U.C. Berkeley Staff Ombuds Annual Report 2000 ------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Articles Measuring Conflict: Both The Hidden Costs and the Benefits of
Conflict Management Interventions
By Cynthia Barnes-Slater and John Ford
Providing the executive team with quantitative and qualitative
data (as opposed to anecdotes) about the costs of conflict will
build the HR manager's credibility as a business partner as there
are significant hidden costs within employee conflicts, costs
that an organization incurs long before a lawsuit is filed.
Team Work: The Benefits Of Mediation
By Laura Farrow and Linda McSweyn
Commencing mediation before employment relationships are
terminated and lawsuits are filed can turn adversaries into
collaborators. Staff trained to handle this kind of dispute
resolution should be part of every employer's tool kit.
Employment Law Considerations Raised by Post-Enron,
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
By Tyler M. Paetkau
The Enron-driven Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 1992 (the "Act") made
sweeping reforms to corporate governance law. Understandably, most
publicly held corporations are still attempting to understand
the complex new financial reporting, disclosure obligations,
and securities and accounting reforms. But there's more:
The Act also contains many employment-related provisions that have
potentially far-reaching consequences.
This update summarizes the most significant employment law changes.
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2. Northern California Human Resource Association Conference and
Trade Show John Ford and Sterling Newberry (an associate) will be
exhibiting at the upcoming Northern California Human Resource
Association Conference and Trade Show. Visit us
at Booth #413 on September 30 or October 1, 2002
at the Oakland Marriot City Center. ------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Supreme Court Defines Time Limits On Title VII Claims The U. S. Supreme Court has resolved conflicts among various
courts of appeals over time limits applicable to hostile work
environment claims filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC). In its reasoning, the Court distinguished
between discrete unlawful acts and hostile work environment claims. In any state where an employee files a timely complaint with a
state anti-discrimination agency, such as California's DFEH,
the employee must file federal claims with the EEOC within 300
days after an unlawful employment practice occurs. In this case, Abner Morgan, Jr. filed his discrimination charge
against the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak)
with the EEOC in 1995. Not all of the acts about which he
complained took place within the preceding 300 days. The trial court said Morgan was not entitled to go to trial
on events that took place outside the 300-day period because
Morgan knew at the time that he was experiencing discrimination
and should have complained within the time limitations. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed, saying that Morgan
could establish a continuing violation allowing for recovery
for all unlawful acts, even those outside the 300-day window. The Supreme Court partly agreed with the 9th Circuit Court. It
defined hostile environment cases as those which, by their very
nature, arise from the cumulative effect of events over a
period of weeks or years. These related events comprise a
single unlawful employment practice. Thus, the court said that
if one event contributing to the claim occurred within the
filing period, Morgan had the right to a trial presenting all
the events that contributed to the hostile environment. The Supreme Court also said, however, that discrimination claims
based on separately identifiable acts, such as termination,
failure to promote, or refusal to hire must be filed within the
applicable time limit. Congress intended to place short time
limits on filing discrimination charges because they provide the
best guarantee of evenhanded administration of the law. National Railroad Passenger Corporation v. Morgan,
(June 10, 2002) 122 S.Ct. 2061. Source: California Chamber of Commerce ------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Training Announcements Resolving Organizational And Workplace Conflict
With John Ford and Eileen Barker Workplace and organizational conflict are inevitable.
Employees have clashes with one another. Different departments
experience competing interests. Management has tensions with staff,
and on and on. Such conflicts provide an opportunity for
constructive change, as well as the potential for disruptive
and costly disputes.
Managing conflict is essential for every organization, and effective
organizations must have well planned strategies to analyze, prevent
and resolve conflicts. This course will increase the student's
ability to assess the dynamics of conflict in organizations, design
appropriate interventions, and ultimately, make conflict a force for
positive change. Topics covered include:
* How to analyze the costs and benefits of organizational conflict.
* How principles of interest and right-based conflict resolution
apply in the workplace
* Resolving employee and inter-departmental disputes
* Reducing conflict between management and staff
* Steps to designing an effective conflict management system
* Preventing and responding to inappropriate workplace
conduct,including violence September 27 & 28, 2002
Friday, noon to 7pm; Saturday, 9am to 5pm
Sonoma State Campus
$175, 14 hours MCLE credit available
PSY 490-5970
Call Eileen Barker at (415) 925-0900
or John Ford at (510) 658-5524 Mediation and Conflict Resolution Training
With Ron Kelly
Do you want to successfully resolve
disputes with confidence?
In this widely-acclaimed training you will learn a
step-by-step process for resolving nearly every
kind of business-related dispute.
Trainer is Ron Kelly, winner of six ADR awards,
who brings you the best techniques developed
over fifteen years of mediating.
Five Saturdays - Oct 5, 12, 19, 26, and Nov 2
Offered by UC Berkeley Continuing Education,
Business and Management Department.
Call Ron Kelly at 510-843-6074 --------------------------------------------------------------
5.Wellness Practices for Teams 1. Create a team charter.
2. Set goals and measure results.
3. Develop operating guidelines.
4. Define team member roles and responsibilities.
5. Develop feedback skills.
6. Learn to manage conflict.
7. Develop good group decision-making processes.
8. Integrate new team members effectively.
9. Develop a team training discipline. --------------------------------------------------------------
6. Unprecedented Award In Sexual Harassment Suit Reduced Responding to a motion by Ralph's, a judge ruled that the
$30.6 million award was excessive and grounds for a new trial.
The judge reduced the award to $8.8 million, giving the women
a choice to accept the vastly reduced verdict or face a new trial. The six employees who brought suit have not yet decided how to
respond to the judge's order. This was the second trial of this
case. The first resulted in an award for $3.8 million in
the women's favor, but was reversed because of jury misconduct. ----------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Quotes "Forgiveness means abandoning your right to pay back that perpetrator
in his own coin, but is is a loss that liberates the victim."
Archbishop Desmond Tutu "You can't always get what you want;
You can't always get what you want;
But, if you try sometimes,
You just might find,
You get what you need."
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards "If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is a part of
yourself"
Hermann Hesse ----------------------------------------------------------------------
8. New Book The Nitty-Gritty Of EEO For The Federal Employee Federal laws and regulations prohibit discrimination and provide
ways for employees to resolve allegations of discrimination on
the job. A popular, reader-friendly book is available to
describe the federal EEO programs that were put in place
to accomplish these goals. The Federal Employee's Guide to EEO, 2nd edition, explains
what all federal employees need to know about the federal
government's EEO process. It tells what is - and what isn't -
covered by the EEO program and how the program can improve
the federal working environment for everyone. The guide answers most of the questions a federal employee
is likely to have about the EEO program, including: o What EEO programs are available?
o Who will help you with an EEO problem?
o How does an individual development plan work?
o How are allegations of discrimination resolved?
o How does the EEO program affect employees?
o What is discrimination and when is it unlawful? The book also gives guidelines for becoming promotable,
preventing sexual discrimination, career counseling and
alternative dispute resolution in an easy-to-read format. The objectives of the federal Equal Employment Opportunity
program are to provide a full and fair opportunity for all
employees to contribute to the extent of their abilities in
a career in federal service, and to provide for the non-
discriminatory
treatment of all employees in carrying out their duties.
This guide gives federal employees the knowledge they need
to fully understand and to operate within the EEO program. The Federal Employee's Guide to EEO is available for $11.95 -
including standard shipping and handling. To order the guide, or for more information,
call FPMI's Publications Division at 256-539-1850. ----------------------------------------------------------------------
9. U.C. Berkeley Staff Ombuds Annual Report 2000 Stable staffing during the past two years ('98-'99 and '99-'00) has
permitted the Staff Ombuds Office to direct greater attention to
developing preventative measures to address the needs of a workforce
that has been experiencing considerable challenges related to major
new programs and activities. These measures include placing greater
emphasis on training and on involvement with committees that affect
the campus climate.
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10. Feedback and Subscriptions welcome If you have any suggestions, tips, or other comments,
send an e-mail to johnford@mediate.com.
New subscriptions are welcome. Forward this to a
friend or colleague. ---------------------------------------------------------------------
The Conflict Management E-Newsletter
Published by John Ford and Associates
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