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In 2004, Andy was certified as an ombudsperson and mediator for the Department of Defense's National Committee for the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve. He is volunteering to mediate re-employment disputes between returning reserve soldiers and their employers in North Carolina.
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Federal Mediation
In March 2003,Andy Silver was selected as one of 13 mediators by the USDA Conflict Prevention and Resolution Center to help resolve a backlog of civil rights grievances filed by farmers nationwide. These 13 mediators were chosen from a national pool of 164 mediators. Andy was the only non-attorney among the 13 finalists.
Distributed by permission of ADRWorld.com
USDA Sets Special Mediator Roster for Civil Rights Complaints
March 5, 2003
By Justin Kelly, ADRWorld.com
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has established a special roster of private-sector neutrals that will attempt to resolve a two-decade backlog of civil rights complaints against the department through mediation and case evaluation.
Jeff A. Knishkowy, director of the Conflict Prevention and Resolution Center at USDA, said the department recently sent out dozens of letters informing complainants of the new option to use alternative dispute resolution processes to resolve their cases. To date USDA has received a "100% response from complainants wanting to use mediation," Knishkowy said.
Cases are currently being addressed at the administrative level and the first mediations will commence within the month, he said, adding that all the cases should be completed in the next few months.
According to Knishkowy, the neutrals will be handling civil rights complaints filed from 1981-1996 by non-USDA employees such as farmers with agriculture loans and individuals with rural housing loans. USDA will "pick up the tab for the neutrals" and the complainant will only be responsible for his or her costs for the mediation, such as counsel and travel.
The ADR process is "something new" for handling civil rights complaints at USDA, Knishkowy said, calling the plan a less adversarial approach that is likely to produce results.
The department began searching for neutrals to fill the panel in July, and has selected 13 neutrals from across the country based on their experience as neutrals in mediation and case evaluation. While mediation was the "most important single factor" in selecting a neutral from among the over 100 applicants, it was also important for a mediator to be familiar with providing a case evaluation for a claimant, Knishkowy said.
Experience in both areas was essential because the alternative dispute resolution process being finalized for the cases envisions that cases will "start with mediation and then to go to a case evaluation" at the request of the complainant, he said.
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