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Settling With UC
Notes from some survivors of Judicial Arbitration & Mediation Services hearings
Several women in WAGE have had settlement discussions with UC through
the Judicial Mediation and Arbitration Services (JAMS). Some cases have ended
happily, others not. From these women's experiences we have extracted lessons
that may help women who are facing the settlement process. If we comunicate with
each other we will make mistakes only once!
There are no ground rules for JAMS hearings so it's important to establish
them at the beginning. Don't be shy about taking the initiative. Everything you ask
for will appear reasonable to anyone on the outside and the University will look
foolish if it refuses to agree. You should:
1) Agree on a schedule of regular breaks and times for meals. That may sound
obvious, but tiring your opponent and taking advantage of their weakness is a
negotiating tactic that you don't want used on you. The University's experienced
negotiators have been known to go out for dinner while keeping the other side
waiting for their promised return with some new response.
2) Insist that all agreements be put in writing before they are considered final. You
don't want to be told "Of course we agreed to that; we shook hands on it." when that
wasn't your intention at all. That actually has happened (see "Costly Victory" on
page 2), and you can't very well refuse a proffered hand.
3) Ask for three days for either side to revise any written agreement. You need time
away from the pressure of the hearings and a chance to consult trusted advisors who
cannot accompany you. It's not unreasonable; you get that long when you buy a
vacuum from a door-to-door salesman.
4) Make it absolutely clear that your attorney is there to advise you but cannot
overrule your wishes. Even the most supportive attorney will want to get a
settlement and move on to the next case. Only you can decide if the University's
proposal on each point is acceptable because you will have to live with it.
Write the agreed ground rules down, review them during breaks in the
meetings, and insist they be followed.
At the hearings there will be six to ten people, all articulate, socially adept,
and wanting you to agree with them. You will be under tremendous psychological
pressure to be gracious, give in, put this behind you, let everyone go home, say what
people want to hear. You will have your attorney with you but may not be
permitted to bring any other supporters. Be alert for manipulation when you're
told things like:
** "You have a difficult personality; no jury would be sympathetic." That's classic
blame-the-victim but it's hard to resist when it comes from a retired trial judge.
** "I have to leave; we have opera tickets and my wife will be furious if I'm late."
You have to live with what you agree to; suggest reconvening another day rather
than forcing a decision on that one last point.
As the hearings progress there are other things you can do to insure the best
results:
*Keep detailed notes. If you send the University a copy of what you understand has
been agreed after each session it will be harder for them to conveniently forget
things and you will be in a stronger position if a point is later disputed.
*Read every word of every draft. You may find previously agreed points have been
dropped or payment amounts changed. And be sure nothing is open to more than
one interpretation, even if that means adding pages of detail. The University will
implement what you agree to and you don't want them free to choose how they do
it.
*Don't leave details to be settled after the agreement is signed. The mediator is
hired to reach a settlement agreeable to both parties and knows he (or she) must be
even handed in order to do so. Once the settlement has been signed, his motivation
is to be hired by the University for another hearing, so anything left till then will
probably go against your interests.
*Above all, take your time. You have probably spent years on your case and would
love nothing better than to see it behind you, but don't let those feelings interfere
when you've finally got the University to the negotiating table.
Lastly, if you're getting a settlement, try to include something in it that will
help other women. Mentoring for women graduate students or support for junior
faculty, or training sessions about discrimination and harassment are possibilities,
or you may think of something more specific to your field or department. Just try to
get the University to do something so the women who follow the trail you've
blazed will have it easier.
Sidebar (boxed): Suggested Reading: You Can Negotiate Anything,
Herb Cohen, Citadel Press, New York, 1980.
"Practical advice, neither elegant nor scholarly"
-wage@wage.org-