(a)        Evidence of statements made and conduct occurring in a mediation of a personnel matter involving The University of North Carolina or a constituent institution shall not be subject to discovery and shall be inadmissible in any proceeding in any action on the same claim or any other claim, administrative or judicial, except in a proceeding to enforce a signed settlement agreement. Such evidence is not a public record under Chapter 132 of the N.C. Gen. Stat.. Any evidence discoverable or admissible prior to the mediation shall remain discoverable and admissible, whether or not it is presented or discussed during mediation.

(b)        No mediator, person training to become a mediator, nor participant in a mediation of a personnel matter involving The University of North Carolina or a constituent institution shall be compelled to testify or produce evidence with respect to the mediation of the personnel matter in any civil proceeding, except to attest to the signing of any such agreement. (2004-154, s. 1.)

Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 116-3.3

  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • institution: means one of the 16 public institutions of higher education, to wit, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University at Raleigh, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the University of North Carolina at Asheville, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Appalachian State University, East Carolina University, Elizabeth City State University, Fayetteville State University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, North Carolina Central University, North Carolina School of the Arts, redesignated effective August 1, 2008, as the "University of North Carolina School of the Arts" Pembroke State University, redesignated effective July 1, 1996, as the "University of North Carolina at Pembroke" Western Carolina University, and Winston-Salem State University, and the constituent high school, the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. See North Carolina General Statutes 116-2
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
  • Testify: Answer questions in court.