How the record works
What is on the record, who may see it, and how either side may use it later. The Terms of Service govern, and this page summarizes them.
What is on it
Every step taken through the platform is dated. Nothing said off the platform, or in a mediation, is in the record. Either side can download its copy. Ours is scheduled for anonymization starting 90 days after the concern closes, unless a legal hold applies.
Who may see it
Section 7 of the Terms limits what either side may share with others. An employee may still talk about it with coworkers or a union, and either side may go to a government agency or its own lawyer. The employer may share it only with the people Section 7.4(b) lists. An employee can also share it for their own support, such as with family, a doctor or counselor, or an interpreter.
An employer may investigate a concern as it would any other complaint, including through an outside investigator. Section 7.4(b) of the Terms says who may see it. Each recipient, other than a person the employer interviews, must owe the employer a duty of confidentiality by contract, law, professional duty or a written policy that binds them.
Our staff open a record only for a reason the Terms list. These are a support, privacy or legal-hold request, legal process, a report of abuse or a security alert.
A subpoena or court order can require us to hand over what we hold about a concern. We tell you first, unless the law forbids it. We may also withhold notice if we believe it would endanger someone else or interfere with a law enforcement investigation.
Using it later
Either side may use what is written on the platform in a later proceeding, subject to Section 7.7 of the Terms and the rules of evidence. A court decides how far it reaches.
The Terms record both sides' intent that messages after the employer's first reply, while they negotiate, count as settlement talks. That intent does not cover the concern itself or a message reporting conduct the employee has reasonable cause to believe is unlawful. A court decides. Under Section 7.7 of the Terms, that treatment adds no confidentiality beyond Section 7.1 and is not a privilege; those messages may still be discoverable, or usable for purposes other than proving liability. Evidence Code section 1152 is an admissibility rule rather than a privilege: it does not create confidentiality on its own and it does not bar discovery.
A written reply an employer sends outside mediation is not brought within Evidence Code sections 1115 to 1128 by the Terms; the employer sees a notice saying so before its first such reply, and the platform records the confirmation.
In a mediation
When mediation opens, once a mediator is engaged, California's mediation confidentiality applies: California Evidence Code § 1119.
Anything said, and any writing prepared, for the purpose of, in the course of, or pursuant to a mediation is generally inadmissible and not subject to discovery in a later noncriminal proceeding.
Limited statutory exceptions apply.
Summarized for orientation, not as legal advice.