Peer Review in Employment Disputes: An Employee Right or an Employee Wrong?

Tanya M. Marcum
Elizabeth A. Campbell

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DOI: 10.2190/WR.13.1.d

Abstract

One of the boldest initiatives in the legal field in the last few decades has been the increased use of alternative dispute resolution methods to resolve employment disputes. Judicial enforcement of arbitration and other forms of alternative dispute resolution methods have been imposed on all facets of business and domestic activities. In the employment arena, especially in nonunionized settings where employees do not enjoy the benefits of collective representation, the search for mechanisms to achieve the resolution of employment disputes has resulted in innovative techniques and processes. This article will focus narrowly on the use of peer review, a type of dispute resolution in the employment arena where the panel consists of coemployees who are peers of the very employee involved in a dispute with the employer. Many legal issues are raised concerning this form of alternative dispute resolution process, and this article will examine each of them, as well as the risks and benefits inherent in the employee's use of peer review processes to resolve employment disputes.

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