In September 2017, the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) began offering voluntary alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in complaints filed by contractors, subcontractors, grantees, subgrantees and personal service contractors. DoD IG contractor reprisal investigations took on average 285 days in fiscal year 2015; the ADR program is designed to improve timeliness. Despite historically low substantiation rates in contractor reprisal investigations, participation in the ADR program should be given serious consideration by DoD contractors interested in speedy resolution of a reprisal complaint.
