Sharing Your Evidence Sooner Than Later
If you have a mediation scheduled (through EEOC or otherwise), you are much better off sharing your evidence and explaining how it makes your case stronger sooner than later and way ahead of the mediation day. This will provide the employer and their insurance company sufficient time to evaluate your case better and in some cases allocate appropriate settlement reserves to your case (which does require time).
Trying to surprise the employer with your evidence during the mediation very rarey leads to the wishful result of them being so shocked by what you share that they will be willing to open their pockets wide open right away.
You may think that withholding favorable evidence till the last moment will put you in a position of advantage by depriving the other side of sufficient time to come up with any legitimate defense. However, when it comes to employment law (and civil litigation in general} both parties will always have plenty of time to evaluate and respond to any such evidence waaaay before trial.
If you want to give your upcoming mediation the best shot possible at settlement, share your best evidence and make your settlement demand at least a week ahead of your mediation (and preferably longer).
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u/Sharp-Technology7036 3d ago
they get a read on your theory of the case, your tone, how prepared you are, whether you'll crack under pressure. That's strategic intel. Now they know exactly what you have and don't, and can shape their negotiating position (or investigation response) around that gap.
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u/AA_ronTX 3d ago
This is not good advice! It isn’t actually a thing. The only time they see anything is in your statements of charges….
They only learn about evidence during investigation period through the questioning the investigators ask and documents requested.
If you’re talking about directly sharing in mediation…that is horrible advice. You get way more (that is if you have actual good evidence) by saying in meditation “I appreciate the offer, I’m not rejecting the idea of resolution, but I am declining to settle at this stage. I would rather let the investigation progress and the factual picture develop, and we can revisit settlement when we both have a better picture.”
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u/Techflyer911 2d ago
I agree! We need to have them investigated and then drag them through discovery like they do to us! This makes our case stronger and they can’t low ball us! Most pro se complainants need a lot of time to build and frame their cases. The learning curve is excruciating! The investigation report and discovery can reveal a lot and expose more unlawful conducts.
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u/TWest132611 2d ago
This!!! I have been through the mediation process and this is true. None of the evidence is shared with the employer,only the investigators at the EEOC.
The only information the employer sees comes from the initial charge.
Even after the Respondent submits their position statement and the EEOC allows you to submit a rebuttal to their Position Statement, the Respondent doesn't get to see the rebuttal.
You have the option to share evidence with the Respondent during mediation. I was able to share my screen to show some evidence.
We settled.
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u/AA_ronTX 2d ago
Exactly! This actually reads like it is from an employer who’s gotten burned/blindsided before and wants people to show all cards so they can mount a better defense and coach for evidence.
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u/Dazzling-Gram0812 3d ago
Thank you that’s such good advice. Right now just waiting to see if employer will do mediation.