{"id":27471,"date":"2022-02-17T19:15:05","date_gmt":"2022-02-18T00:15:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adr.gov\/?page_id=27471"},"modified":"2022-02-18T11:53:14","modified_gmt":"2022-02-18T16:53:14","slug":"ch29","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/adr.gov\/guidance\/adrguide-home\/ch29\/","title":{"rendered":"Ch.29 – Confidentiality"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);background-position: center center;background-repeat: no-repeat;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;margin-bottom: 0px;margin-top: 0px;border-width: 0px 0px 0px 0px;border-color:#eae9e9;border-style:solid;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-one-full fusion-column-first fusion-column-last\" style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-flex-column-wrapper-legacy\" style=\"background-position:left top;background-repeat:no-repeat;-webkit-background-size:cover;-moz-background-size:cover;-o-background-size:cover;background-size:cover;padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px;\"><style type=\"text\/css\"><\/style><div class=\"fusion-title title fusion-title-1 fusion-title-text fusion-title-size-two\" style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:31px;margin-left:0px;\"><h2 class=\"title-heading-left\" style=\"margin:0;\">Ch.29 – Confidentiality<\/h2><span class=\"awb-title-spacer\"><\/span><div class=\"title-sep-container\"><div class=\"title-sep sep-double sep-solid\" style=\"border-color:#e0dede;\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><p>The Administrative Dispute Resolution Act (ADRA) of 1996 places restrictions on the public release of dispute resolution communications exchanged in an ADR proceeding.  5 USC 574.  Similarly, consistent with Federal Rule of Evidence (FRE) 408, the forums that entertain government contracts controversies generally deem as inadmissible the settlement discussions generated in an ADR proceeding.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Confidentiality under the ADRA of 1996<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The ADRA affirmatively bans neutrals from voluntarily disclosing dispute resolution communications (and any communication provided in confidence to the neutral), unless one of four statutory exceptions apply.  <strong>Paraphrasing<\/strong> the statute, these exceptions include: (1) all parties and the neutral agree in writing to the disclosure; (2) the communication has already been made public; (3) a statute requires publication, and only the neutral is reasonably available; and (4) a court orders release after employing a three-part test.  5 USC 574(a).  Parties to an ADR proceeding have a similar prohibition on releasing information, but in addition to the four exceptions applicable to neutrals, three other exceptions allow a party to release:  (1) its own statements; (2) dispute resolution communications relevant in disputes involving a settlement agreement reached in an ADR; and (3) a dispute resolution communication (except those generated by the neutral) that was provided or available to all parties to the ADR proceeding.  <em>Id<\/em>. at 574(b).<\/p>\n<p>The statute also contains other general exceptions.  First, if a neutral receives a discovery request or other legal process seeking disclosure of dispute resolution communications, the parties must offer to defend the neutral or risk waiver of the confidentiality protection.  <em>Id.<\/em> at 574(e).  Second, communications can be used to a limited extent if a dispute arises between the neutral and a party.  <em>Id.<\/em> at 574(i).<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Admissibility of Settlement Discussions<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Admissibility refers to whether a particular item (a document, testimony, etc.) may be included in the collection of evidence used to decide a case.  The common law of evidence and FRE 408 have long restricted the admission of settlement discussions–like those in ADR–into evidence to prove or disprove liability or a defense.   Although not bound by the Federal Rules of Evidence, the principles of FRE 408 are generally applied in protests and contract disputes.  <em>See e.g., Walsh\/Davis JV v. GSA<\/em>, CBCA No. 1460,  2012-1 B.C.A. (CCH) 34,968; <em>Appeal of David Sahagian<\/em>, PSBCA Nos. 3385, 3416, 94-2 B.C.A. (CCH) 26,688.  <em>See also, <\/em>ODRA Procedural Regulation at 14 CFR 17.39(b).<\/p>\n<p><u><strong>Confidentiality of ADR Agreements and Resulting Settlements<\/strong><\/u><\/p>\n<p>The ADRA of 1996’s confidentiality protection covers dispute resolution communications.  The definition of this term, however, expressly excludes “a written agreement to enter into a dispute resolution proceeding, or final written agreement or arbitral award reached as a result of a dispute resolution proceeding.”  5 USC 571(5).  It should also be noted that confidentiality clauses in a settlement agreement may not withstand a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).  Further, as a matter of policy, the Department of Justice restricts the use of confidentiality clauses in settlements that it signs.  28 CFR 50.23.<\/p>\n<p><u><strong>Further Reading<\/strong><\/u><\/p>\n<p>The Interagency ADR Working Group has published two guides on ADR Confidentiality:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/adr.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/final_confid.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">Confidentiality: “Protecting the Confidentiality of Dispute Resolution Proceedings: A Guide for Federal Workplace ADR Program Administrators<\/a>” (April 2006) (PDF)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/adr.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/confid.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">Confidentiality: Guide to “Confidentiality in Federal Alternative Dispute Resolution Programs” (guidance to assist federal agencies in developing ADR programs)<\/a> (December 29, 2000) (PDF)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Confidentiality, as it pertains to federal mediators, is also addressed in “<a href=\"https:\/\/adr.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/final_manual.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">A Guide for Federal Employee Mediators: A Supplement to and Annotation of the Model Standards of Conduct for Mediators Issued by the American Arbitration Association, the American Bar Association, and the Association for Conflict Resolution<\/a>” ( May 9, 2006 ), issued by the Federal Interagency ADR Working Group Steering Committee.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":27194,"menu_order":8,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adr.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27471"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adr.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adr.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adr.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adr.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/adr.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27471\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adr.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adr.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}