Most of the survey respondents were familiar with the EEOC mediation program prior to deciding to decline to participate in the program. The vast majority of the employers conducted their own internal investigation of the charges prior to declining to participate in the mediation program. Almost half have prior experience mediating in the program. We found that the employers who declined the offer of mediation are well informed regarding the EEOC processes and the EEOC mediation program. We also examined the context of the decision to decline mediation. We emphasize that the key factor that causes employers to decline mediation is that they do not believe that the charge is meritorious. The third factor is the perception that the EEOC mediation program requires monetary settlement. The main and overwhelming factor in an employer’s decision to decline the offer of mediation was that the 'merits of the case did not warrant mediation.' The second major factor is that the employers did not believe that the EEOC was likely to issue a 'reasonable cause' finding. We found three important reasons why employers decline to mediate a particular case. Using a survey, we captured the feedback of employers as to why they declined to mediate a particular case before the EEOC, the context of their decision, their familiarity with the EEOC mediation program, and their general impressions about the Agency and its mediation program. We investigated the reasons for the lack of employer participation in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) mediation program.

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