Federal Trial Court: Mediation With Ombuds Sufficient Step in Exhausting Administrative Remedies

The federal trial court in Alexandria upheld an arbitration award in favor of an employee who had alleged workplace discrimination based, in part, on the fact that the employee sought mediation with the company ombuds as required by her written employment agreement. The judge agreed that the employee had sufficiently exhausted her attempts at an administrative remedy and that the arbitration should be binding. In particular, the judge noted that the mediation with the ombuds was essentially similar to the EEOC mediation procedure. (Caci Premier Tech., Inc. v. Faraci, 464 F. Supp. 2d 527, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89609 (E.D. Va. 2006). ) This case and others will be discussed during the "US Law & Legal Update" plenary session at the IOA annual conference.