5717-1-21 Mediation conferences.

(A) An appeal to the board may be resolved by mediation among the parties. Requests for diversion of an appeal to mediation may be made by any party to the board within ninety days of the filing of the notice of appeal. The board or the attorney examiner assigned the appeal may also recommend that an appeal be diverted to mediation. The diversion of an appeal to mediation will not alter the obligations established by these rules for the orderly disposition of an appeal, except for good cause, as determined by the board or its attorney examiners.

(B) The board's secretary or the designated assignment commissioner may schedule an appeal for a mediation conference, and written notice thereof shall be given to the parties or their counsel of record by ordinary mail.

(C) All parties or their counsel scheduled to appear at a mediation conference must secure authority to respond to settlement proposals offered at a mediation conference prior to such conference. All parties shall be prepared to discuss their positions and to explore any possibility of settlement of an appeal at the conference.

(D) At the conclusion of the mediation conference, the board, upon recommendation of the attorney mediator, may enter an order setting forth the action taken or agreement reached at the mediation conference, which, with the parties' consent, shall govern the subsequent course of the proceedings. Any appeal that cannot be resolved through the mediation process will be scheduled for a merit hearing with an attorney examiner who did not participate in the mediation process.

(E) The attorney mediator shall keep confidential all statements made and information provided by a party at a mediation conference. However, such statements and information may be disclosed in accordance with Ohio law. No stenographic record of mediation conferences shall be taken or maintained.

(F) Statements made and information provided in the course of a mediation conference are not admissible at a subsequent hearing. This rule does not require the exclusion of any evidence otherwise discoverable merely because it is presented in the course of mediation.

R.C. 119.032 review dates: 01/23/2013 and 03/01/2017
Promulgated Under: 5703.14
Statutory Authority: 5703.02, 5703.14
Rule Amplifies: 5703.02
Prior Effective Dates: 3/24/1989, 3/1/1996, 1/14/2005, 3/15/2007