Mr. Smeenk, K.C., has over 40 years of experience in employment and labour law, across the broader public sector (both Ontario and federal) and the private sector. In addition to his role as Chair, he has been a Vice Chair of the Ontario Labour Relations Board since 2021 and also accepts private appointments as a mediator/arbitrator. He began his career as a neutral Fact Finder appointed by Ontario's Education Relations Commission to report on several school board-teacher bargaining impasses, before turning to private practice until 2020. He is a Past President of the former, tripartite Toronto Area Industrial Relations Association. Brian was inducted as a Fellow of the tripartite College of Labor and Employment Lawyers in 2015. He has been ranked as a leading lawyer in the area of labour relations and employment law in various legal publications, and listed in Best Lawyers in Canada since 2010.
Mr. Smeenk is the founder and President of the Merit Award Bursary Program, which provides support to deserving youth in Toronto and Peel, to help them pursue a post-secondary education.
Barry B. Fisher LL.B. is a mediator and arbitrator of both employment and labour relations matters. He offers three forms of ADR based on the clients’ needs: Mediation, Arbitration and Med/Arb. Barry is from the evaluative school of mediation and brings his over 30 years experience as an employment lawyer and legal author to the dispute. In addition to his knowledge of the legal issues involved in these disputes, he also has a deep understanding of the psychological factors that motivate both employees and employers. By combining these two skills, Barry is able to achieve a settlement rate of over 85% of the disputes that he mediates. Barry is the author of the Wrongful Dismissal Database, Canada's first and leading online database of reasonable notice periods. The Wrongful Dismissal Database is distributed by WDD Legal Inc. and is used widely by employment lawyers, human resources professionals, and judges across Canada.
Marilyn Nairn was called to the Ontario bar in 1982 and practiced labour law in Toronto until 1987 when she accepted the position of counsel to the Ontario Labour Relations Board. In 1989 Ms. Nairn was appointed a Vice-Chair of the OLRB, where she served for three terms. Since 1998, she has acted as a private labour arbitrator and mediator. Ms. Nairn is a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators, is a past president of the Ontario Labour-Management Arbitrators' Association, and has held various positions on the executive of the Labour Section of the Ontario Bar Association. She has taught at both the college and university levels, has appeared as a speaker on panels and at conferences in the areas of labour law and human rights, and has been appointed Commissioner to various judicial remuneration commissions. She was appointed to the Grievance Settlement Board in 2001 and was appointed as its Alternate Chair in 2018.
Henri Pallard is an arbitrator and mediator, providing professional services in both official languages. He has particular expertise in complaint and grievance procedures and alternative dispute resolution in both public and private sectors. He is on the government of Canada’s list of approved arbitrators maintained by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and was formerly on the Ontario Minister of Labour’s list. He is a member of the Ontario Labour Management Arbitrators’ Association and the ADR Institute of Ontario. A graduate of the University of Alberta and McGill University, he was called to the Ontario Bar in 1988. A former university professor, he taught courses in labour and employment law, administrative law and international human rights. He is also the recipient of several prestigious awards for his contributions to his community, most notable, the Award of Merit from the Association des Juristes Francophones de l’Ontario (2022). Henri makes his home in Sudbury, Ontario.
Jay Sengupta is a mediator and adjudicator who has been a neutral for over 15 years. She holds appointments with the Law Society Tribunal, the NWT Human Rights Adjudication Panel, the discipline committee of the College of Patent Agents & Trademark Agents and the Canada Industrial Relations Board (external adjudicator). Prior to launching her private mediation practice, Jay served as a full-time Vice-chair with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario where she was cross appointed to the Child and Family Services Review Board, the Custody Review Board and the Special Education Tribunal.
Andrew Tremayne has been a full-time arbitrator and mediator since 2014. Before that, he practiced labour and employment law in Ottawa for over 20 years. Andrew is on the Ontario Minister of Labour's list of approved grievance arbitrators (the "section 49 list") and the Federal Minister of Labour's list of eligible grievance and unjust dismissal adjudicators, and he regularly mediates and investigates workplace complaints and disputes of all kinds. He is also the Integrity Commissioner for the Township of Edwardsburgh/Cardinal and the Town of Prescott on an as needed basis. Andrew received his J.D. from U of T Law School in 1991, and he is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian Bar Association, the Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunals, and the Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute of Ontario.