Today I found the following question posted on the Internet.
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Can a mediator testify in court on my behalf about what was said at our mediation session?
My ex-husband and I had a mediation session and he said some things that were untrue and demeaning towards the way we have been handling our parenting time.
Now since I’m moving only 15 miles away he wants to make a big deal out of were our children should go to school next year. I have always had our children during the school year for the past 4 years. He says that he needs to see his kids everyday, which he doesn’t do anyways and doesn’t want to compromise on anything. Yet I am allowing him to take the children so our boys can finish school without changing with only a month and a half left and while I can move to our new house.
He told our mediator that I tried to hide from him the fact that I was moving, which was untrue, was only looking at the time and wasn’t sure if we were even moving or not. Plus he told her that I wasn’t allowing him to take the kids more, which is also untrue. Told him he could have them whenever he wanted he just needed to let me know and he also needed to find a babysitter. I have never tried to keep his kids from him.
Is our mediator allowed to testify in court about our mediation session?
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Here is my answer.
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The short answer to your question is No – your mediator is not allowed (and will not) to testify in court. Why? Because mediation is by definition confidential, and therefore nothing said or offered by one party during mediation can later be used against that party in court.
Of course, I don’t know what happened during your mediation… But since this confidentiality issue is a key concept of mediation, your mediator should have brought it up in at least two instances.
First, at the very beginning — when he or she explained to you and your ex-husband what mediation means, the mediator’s neutral role, the outcome of mediation, and so on. And second, when your mediator asked both of you to read and sign an “Agreement to Mediate” (a document that, among other things, covers the confidential issue in detail) before your mediation began.
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