hello my name is syllabic le please call me Sylvia I am a certified mediator in the state of Florida and I am a member of the Florida Council on workplace mediation and you are I have kept a pen okay and you is it okay if I call you Carla sure is it okay if I call you Jacob yes perfect first welcome to the dispute resolution Center I commend you both for choosing to work out a solution to your issues together I have been mediating cases for the center for three years now I am confident that this process will be helpful in guiding both of you through your concerns as a mediator I'm going to walk us through a process that will ask each of you to help me understand what brought you here today and then see whether we can come up with a resolution that meets your needs I am NOT here to make decisions for you or offer you legal advice my job today is to help the two of you come up with a solution that works for you both in that role I will make an effort to be neutral and impartial this means that I will not favor either either one of you or praise any particular solution that is proposed if you have any concerns about how the process is going or what I'm doing please do not hesitate and asking me so we can discuss it you have each been sent a copy of the agreement to mediate and subpoena waiver forms are there any questions Donna first I would like to draw your attention to the confident confidentiality clause and remind you the only reason I would break confidentiality is if one of you threatened harm to yourself or others I also want to inform you that in the event we do not resolve resolve your dispute here in this case proceeds to court I cannot be subpoenaed by either side I will be taking notes throughout the course of this mediation just to organize my thoughts however I will be destroying these notes after this session at some point I may find it necessary to meet with you individually if this were to happen what a said in those meetings is also confidential unless you choose to share with the other person I have reserved this room until 5 p.m. today are there any time constraints no I'm okay good then if you need a break let me know bathrooms are just stall before we get started I would like to go over a few ground rules I expect that you will respect each other and value each other's opinions I also expect that you will actively listen to each other and speak honestly lastly I found it easier to hear only one person speaks at a time I promise to make sure each of you will have an opportunity to voice your concerns throughout this session so do either of you have any additional ground rules to add Kara let's begin with you yes just one I would like not to be interrupted so I don't have to repeat myself okay we'll definitely add that into the list um how about you Jacob I will have for all parties to maintain a moderate tone of voice okay so are you both willing to following these guidelines yes yes okay great lastly do you guys have any other questions before we get started with today's session okay so let's begin with Jacob since he called the human resources department first if that's okay with you Kara it is so Jacob what has brought you here today