Mediation in Employment Disputes

Employment disputes in the work place can be between the employer and employee or between co-workers. In recent years, personnel or human resource offices in many businesses have begun to use mediation as a means of resolving these disputes. Texas is an employment-at-will state which means that, absent a written agreement to the contrary, an employee can leave her place of employment without any reason or notice, and the employer can terminate employment without any reason as long as the basis for termination is not prohibited by law. Consequently, the employee claims for wrongful termination are limited in Texas. An employee who has been terminated for filing a worker’s compensation claim could have a claim for wrongful termination. So-called “whistle-blower” claims where an employee has been fired for reporting violations of the law by his employer are also fairly common. Claims for age discrimination are also not unusual. Large employers must also be cognizant of not running afoul of the host of federal laws dealing with such issues as family and medical leave for employees. Disputes among employees can involve anything from sexual harassment claims to simply not getting along in the work place. Mediation is an appropriate process for attempting to resolve any of these disputes.