Alternative dispute resolution is prized for its ability to efficiently resolve thorny legal disputes, but one suit in mediation has been bogged down in allegations of fraud, unjust enrichment and character assassination between the litigants and the neutral.

Zaffera, a Rhode Island information technology company, accused Wilbur “Bill” Mathesius, a retired Mercer County Superior Court judge, in a suit of accepting appointment as a mediator in a dispute involving the company when he was on retired status and ineligible for such assignments.