Question:
Were there any cases where you were asked to become involved
in what you thought were inappropriate situations for mediation?
Answer:
Probably. I can’t think of anything right now, but I’m sure there were. There were some
things, actually I think of conflicts and situations that I’ve intervened in later in my career that
sort of fit that, but I don’t remember very clearly that being the case in CRS. I’m sure there
were, though.
Question:
What sort of things did you run into later?
Answer:
Well, situations where I felt that – in an organizational conflict where I felt the director of
the agency was not honest with why he wanted to be in negotiations. I couldn’t do that. What
was happening in that particular instance, as I recall, was that the county was planning on
conducting a major riff that the employees in his organization were not aware of, but he knew
and he wanted to get involved in the mediation or negotiations that would have attempted to
re-stratify levels of positions and promotions. The other one I got was – and this is really kind of
funny – this was some years ago. I got a call from a Navy missile base somewhere in the
mid-Atlantic region, who called and asked whether I, or any of my colleagues here, might be
prepared to give him and his staff negotiation skills training. Now, I’m always a little suspicious
when I hear about an organization that only wants negotiation skills from me, that’s not
interested in mediation. So, what’s going on? They said, "Well, we are subject to the United
Nations missile inspection like many other bases in countries around the world, and we want to
negotiate the least amount of disclosure possible.” So I said, "Oh, I see. So, you’re no different
then the Iraqis. No, no thank you. Maybe somebody else would do that, but I won’t.”
