Disputant Preferences for Mediated or Adjudicated Processes in Administrative Agencies: The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission Settlement Part Program

Abstract

Previous research examining disputants’ preferences for mediation over more formal adjudicative proceedings is limited and mostly experimental. Moreover, this work has not examined preferences in relation to repeated experience with various types of proceedings. We surveyed disputants who have experienced different types of proceedings in administrative adjudication and administrative law judge mediation in the Settlement Part Program at the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC). We find that the higher the perceptions of procedural justice, the greater the preference for use of mediation. In addition, the more total experience disputants have in the OSHRC dispute system (including both adjudication and settlement judge mediation), the greater their preference for mediation.