Category B: Supervisors and Managers through GS-14

Sandra Simmons
EEO Manager
VA Medical Center
Coatesville, Pennsylvania

Through her visionary leadership, Ms. Simmons (VISN 4 Lead EEO Manager/ADR Coordinator) helped to design the VISN Alternative Dispute Resolution (Mediation) Program.

In fiscal year 2002 there were 191 informal EEO contacts made by VISN 4 employees. Only two of these complainants elected to use mediation to resolve their disputes. Mrs. Simmons saw the opportunity that mediation provided to resolve EEO complaints, which could reduce the administrative cost of adjudicating complaints and result in more timely resolution of disputes.

She met with the unions and interviewed complainants to discover why they were not requesting to participate in mediation. When feedback indicated that employees wanted a neutral mediator who did not work at their facility, Mrs. Simmons coordinated with the Office of Resolution Management to train thirty collateral-duty mediators in September 2003. These mediators provided services in VISN 4 as needed, but not in their own facilities.

Since the mediation program was implemented, a total of 117 EEO dispute mediations were conducted at a resolution rate of 52.1 percent. At an average processing cost of $40,000 per complaint, mediation has saved over two million dollars in this VISN. These funds may be redirected to patient care, rather than processing complaints.

Sandra Simmons with Gordon Mansfield and Paul Hutter