Biographies

SUSAN STEWART - CHAIR

Susan L. Stewart attended law school at Queen's University and was called to the bar in 1981. She commenced her arbitration and mediation practice in 1988. In 1989 she was appointed as a Vice-Chair of the Crown Employees Grievance Settlement Board, and in 2001 was appointed as the Chair. She serves as a permanent arbitrator under a number of Collective Agreements in both provincial and federal jurisdictions. Susan is a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators, is a former Chair of the Labour Section of the Ontario Bar Association and has served as a member of the executive of the Ontario Labour Management Arbitrators' Association.

RANDI ABRAMSKY

Randi Abramsky is a full-time Arbitrator and Mediator. She initially served as a Grievance Settlement Officer with the GSB (1992-1996) and then became a Vice-Chair in 1996. She also served as a Labour Relations Officer and Vice-Chair with the Ontario Public Service Labour Relations Tribunal and the Boards of Inquiry. Ms Abramsky also engages in private sector arbitrations and mediations, has taught labour law related courses and written in the field.

JULES B. BLOCH

Jules B. Bloch is an experienced, bilingual, mediator, arbitrator, facilitator, fact-finder, lecturer and trainer. After his call, he practiced law primarily in the field of labour and employment law. In 1991 he was appointed full time Vice-Chair of the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) (November 7, 1991 to September 1, 1999). Presently, he is a Vice-Chair of the Grievance Settlement Board. Mr. Bloch is a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators. Mr. Bloch is a co-author of Canadian Construction Labour and Employment Law (Butterworths: 1996).

FELICITY BRIGGS

After receiving her nursing education Felicity Briggs worked as a Registered Nurse in a Toronto hospital for six years. She worked for the next twelve years for the Ontario Nurses' Association holding a variety of positions including negotiator, arbitration officer and Manager of the Arbitration Department. After two years acting as a consultant for trade unions she enrolled in the Arbitrator Development Program which she completed in 1991. Since being added to the Minister of Labour's List of Arbitrators she has acted as Mediator and Chair of both Rights and Interest Boards of Arbitration. Felicity was also appointed as a Vice Chair of the Grievance Settlement Board in 1994.

RICHARD BROWN

Richard Brown (LL.B. Queen?s; LL.M. Harvard) has taught labour law at universities in Canada and abroad. He was a member of the Labour Law Casebook Group for many years and has written numerous articles on arbitration, human rights and occupational health and safety. Richard began arbitrating in the late seventies and has practiced as a full-time arbitrator and mediator since the early nineties. He is a director of the Ontario Labour Management Arbitrators? Association and a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators. He is a named arbitrator in several collective agreements and many of his awards have been published in the Labour Arbitration Cases and Labour Arbitration Xpress.

JOSEPH D. CARRIER

Joseph (Joe) Carrier has been engaged as a full-time mediator/arbitrator since 1991. After graduating from Queen's Law School in 1969, he practiced corporate and commercial law for several years before joining Mathews Dinsdale & Clark, a management side law firm. After a brief interlude during which he was engaged in real estate development, he re-entered the labour field in 1991 as a mediator/arbitrator. He enjoys a consensual practice as well as assignments from the Labour Ministries of both Federal and Provincial Governments.

REVA DEVINS

Reva Devins is a full time arbitrator and mediator. She is a Vice Chair of the Grievance Settlement Board and is the Associate Chair under the 1986-90 Hepatitis C Class Action Settlement. She has also been appointed as a mediator/arbitrator under the Walkerton Compensation Plan, the UCC Claims Resolution Plan and was a member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (1995-2005). Ms. Devins was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1985 and holds degrees from York University (B.A), Osgoode Hall Law School (LL.B.) and Harvard Law School (LL.M.).

NIMAL V. DISSANAYAKE

A Vice-Chair of the Grievance Settlement Board since 1987, Nimal Dissanayake is a lawyer and a former professor of Industrial Relations at McMaster University. He has also served as Senior Solicitor and Vice-Chair (part-time) of the Ontario Labour Relations Board. Since 1987 he has practiced full-time as arbitrator/adjudicator in relation to labour and employment disputes.

BARRY FISHER

B.A., University of Toronto; LL.B., Osgoode Hall Law School, called to the Bar, 1979. Member of Ontario Management Labour Arbitrators Association, a labour arbitrator since 1988 and Vice-Chair, Grievance Settlement Board. An arbitrator under Police Services Act, Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act, and Canada Labour Code. Trained as a mediator at the Academy of Mediation in Toronto, Harvard Law School and ADR Associates in Washington, D.C. Has mediated employment / labour disputes involving wrongful dismissal actions, sexual harassment, collective agreement interpretation, human rights issues, shareholders disputes arising from employment and the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements. Has authored numerous articles on wrongful dismissal, mediation practice and labour arbitration. He created the Wrongful Dismissal Database, containing over 2500 cases, utilized by lawyers/judges/human resources professionals across Canada.

OWEN GRAY

Owen V. Gray has the following degrees: Honours B.Sc. (Queen's University, 1971), LL.B. (University of Toronto, 1974), LL.M. (Alternative Dispute Resolution) (Osgoode Hall Law School 1998). He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1976. Since 1990 he has been a self-employed, full-time arbitrator, arbitrator-mediator and mediator in labour, employment and related disputes, including disputes under collective agreements in the public and private sectors, interest disputes, and wrongful dismissal disputes diverted by the parties from the courts to arbitration or mediation. He has been a Vice Chair of the Ontario Crown Employees Grievance Settlement Board (part-time) since 1991. He was previously Vice Chair, Ontario Labour Relations Board (1983-1990 full-time, 1990-1993 part-time) and Employment Standards Referee (1990-1992, ad hoc). He practiced law from April 1976 to October 1983 with a Toronto law firm (McTaggart, Potts, Stone & Herridge), advising clients about and representing them in commercial, corporate, construction, land use, employment, labour relations, family and other disputes before courts and administrative tribunals. He is currently a member of the Ontario Labour-Management Arbitrators? Association, the Arbitration and Mediation Institute of Ontario, the Law Society of Upper Canada, and the Canadian Bar Association.

DANIEL A. HARRIS

Mr. Harris is a graduate of York University (1978) and Osgoode Hall Law School (1981). Upon being called to the Bar of Ontario in 1983, he served a one-year appointment as a Law Clerk to the Chief Justice of the High Court of Justice, Province of Ontario. He then practiced labour law until 1991, when he was appointed to the Minister's List of Arbitrators in Ontario. Since then he has worked as a labour arbitrator and mediator in both rights and interest matters in all sectors, public and private. He serves as an arbitrator on numerous collective agreement panels. He has been a Vice-Chair with the Grievance Settlement Board since 1998, and previously held appointments with the Workers' Compensation Appeals Tribunal and Office of Adjudication.

BRAM HERLICH

Bram Herlich has B.A (1972) and M.A (1977) degrees from McGill University (English and Communications). After several years as a CEGEP professor and union representative in Montreal, he enrolled in law school and graduated from Osgoode Hall in 1982. After graduation, held a number of positions including Arbitration Officer with the Ontario Nurses? Association and Associate with the firm Cavalluzzo, Hayes and Lennon. He has been an adjudicator since 1989 when he was appointed Vice-Chair of the Ontario Labour Relations Board. Appointed in 1996 as a Referee/Adjudicator under the Employment Standards Act and an Adjudicator under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Appointed Vice-Chair of the Grievance Settlement Board in 1998 and is currently hearing and mediating cases at the GSB and at private arbitration.

IAN HUNTER

Ian Hunter holds degrees in political science (1966) and law (1969) from the University of Toronto. He has taught at several Canadian Universities and been a Visiting Scholar at Wolfson College, Cambridge. From 1974 to 1996 he was Professor of Law at the University of Western Ontario where, in 1983, he was awarded the gold medal for teaching excellence. Professor Emeritus since 1996, he is President of Hunter Arbitration Services. Since 1974, Professor Hunter has acted as mediator or arbitrator in more than four thousand cases. He is the author of seven books and more than fifty law review articles.

RICHARD L. JACKSON

Professor Jackson teaches negotiation and industrial relations at the Queen's School of Business. He acts as an arbitrator and mediator in labour disputes under the Labour Relations Act and Police Services Act and has been a Vice-Chair of the Grievance Settlement Board since 1998; he was also a member of the Public Service Grievance Board from 1982 to 1987. His publications include "Fact Finding Under The School Boards and Teachers Collective Negotiations Act", "Conflict and Co-operation in Police Labour Relations", chapters on labour law in the fourth and fifth editions of Union-Management Relations in Canada (Gunderson, Ponak and Taras, eds.), and contributions to Canadian Labour Relations: Readings and Cases, Labour Arbitration Yearbook, Public Sector Collective Bargaining in Canada, and the Canadian Police College Journal.

JANICE JOHNSTON

Ms. Johnston graduated from Wilfred Laurier University with a B. A. in history and received her law degree from the University of Western Ontario in 1979. She was called to the Bar in 1981. She worked in the public and private sector as labour relations counsel before joining the Ontario Labour Relations Board as a Vice-Chair in 1990. In 1999 she left the OLRB to pursue her career as a mediator/arbitrator. She is currently a part-time Vice-Chair of the Grievance Settlement Board and acts as an arbitrator pursuant to the Ontario Police Arbitration Commission.

BRIAN KELLER

Brian Keller graduated from Sir George Williams University with a B.A. in Political Science and received his law degree from the University of Ottawa. He was called to the Bar in 1972. Mr. Keller is a bilingual adjudicator and mediator. He served as a Vice-Chair of the Grievance Settlement Board in 1994 - 1998 and was most recently re-appointed to the Board in March 2003.

BELINDA KIRKWOOD

Belinda Kirkwood is a full time arbitrator and mediator and has worked in the labour field since 1979. She articled at Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart and Storie, and was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1977. She had received her B.C.L. and L.L.B from McGill University. Her initial work as an arbitrator began with her appointments by the Education Relations Commission as a fact-finder and an arbitrator, and then having received two intensive two and a half day mediation training sessions, began to work as a mediator. She was appointed to the list of Provincially approved arbitrators in 1985 and has continued to work as an arbitrator and mediator of both rights and interest disputes in the private and public sectors, in areas such as health, education, mining and manufacturing. She has been a Vice Chair of the Grievance Settlement Board since 1987, and was appointed to the Public Service Grievance Board, Classification Committee in 1992. She has been appointed by the Ontario Police Arbitration Commission to arbitrate and mediate rights and interest disputes since 1991, and has been an adjudicator under the Canada Labour Code since the 1980's. She has also been named as an arbitrator in various collective agreements. She combined civil litigation and neutral labour work as a partner in Shlagbaum, Rabinovitch and Kirkwood from 1977 to 1985, and with Lang Michener as an associate and partner from 1985 to 1989, and then left the partnership to act as a full time arbitrator/mediator.

GERRY LEE

Gerry Lee is a well-respected dispute resolution professional working in both the public and private sectors. His background in labour relations extends over 20 years, including 10 years as a mediator with the Ontario Ministry of Labour. He is recognized by employers, unions and the legal community as a skillful, pragmatic and creative third party specializing in grievance mediation. Gerry has successfully undertaken numerous grievance mediation projects with major employers and their unions and has extensive experience dealing with issues such as termination of employment, harassment, pay equity/job evaluation and health & safety.

DEBORAH LEIGHTON

Deborah J.D. Leighton, B.A. (Law, Oxford), L.L.M, J.D., is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Policy Studies at Queen?s University. There she teaches courses in labour and employment law, human rights, arbitration and mediation. Her private practice includes mediations and arbitrations of commercial and labour disputes. Ms. Leighton is on numerous collective agreements, including Air Canada and ACPA, AGO and OPSEU. She is also a Vice-Chair of the Public Service Grievance Board, and has served as an adjudicator for the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal (1992-8). Ms. Leighton is a member of the Florida Bar and the Law Society of Upper Canada.

MICHAEL LYNK

Michael Lynk is an associate professor with the Faculty of Law, the University of Western Ontario, where he teaches labour and human rights law. Prior to becoming a professor, he practised labour law in Toronto and Ottawa for a decade. Mr. Lynk is also an active labour arbitrator, and has served as a vice-chair with the Ontario Public Service Grievance Board (1995-1999) before joining the Ontario Grievance Settlement Board in 2007. He has written widely on the issues of labour law and human rights in the unionized Canadian workplace, and is a frequent speaker at industrial relations and labour law conferences across the country.

LORETTA MIKUS

Loretta Mikus worked as a Registered Nurse from 1966 to 1974 when she returned to school to get her law degree. She was called to the bar in 1986 and worked as an Arbitration Officer at the Ontario Nurses' Association until 1989, when she became the Assistant Director of Arbitration Services. In 1991 she was appointed as a Grievance Settlement Officer at the Grievance Settlement Board, and since then has been appointed as a Vice-Chair at the Grievance Settlement Board, acted as Chair on interest and rights arbitration boards, acted as a part-time adjudicator for Boards of Inquiry under the Ontario Human Rights Code and acted as part-time adjudicator at the Office of Adjudicator under the Employment Standards Act. Has had extensive experience in mediation, in particular mediation of long term and short term disability claims under a collective agreement.

MARILYN NAIRN, GSB Vice Chair

Originally from Winnipeg, Marilyn Nairn is a graduate of the University of Ottawa Law School and was called to the Ontario bar in 1982. She 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, following which, she expanded her successful practice as labour arbitrator and mediator. Ms. Nairn is a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators and 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 completed an advanced mediation course at Osgoode Hall Law School, has taught at both the college and university levels in the area of labour law, and has appeared as a speaker on various panels and at conferences in the areas of labour law and human rights. She was appointed to the Grievance Settlement Board on October 31, 2001.

KENNETH PETRYSHEN

Ken obtained an undergraduate degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 1972. In 1976, Ken obtained a law degree from Queen's University, where he was awarded the prize in Labour Relations in the Public Sector. He was called to the Bar in 1978 and practiced labour and administrative law until 1985, when he became solicitor of the Ontario Labour Relations Board. He served as a full-time Vice Chair of the OLRB between 1986 and 1994, when he became a part-time Vice Chair and commenced his arbitration and mediation practice. Ken was first appointed to the Grievance Settlement Board in 1997.

STEPHEN RAYMOND

Stephen Raymond is a full-time arbitrator and mediator. He is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario holding a B.A. (Political Science, 1986) and a LL.B. (1989). After his call to the Bar in 1991, he practiced law primarily in the fields of labour and employment law. In 2000, he was appointed as a vice-chair of the Ontario Labour Relations Board. Since 2003, he has worked as a labour mediator/arbitrator and civil litigation mediator. His practice covers all types of disputes, including rights and interest, in both the public and private sector. He is a former executive of the Ontario Bar Association Labour Law Section and is a member of that section, the ADR section and the Ontario Labour Management Arbitrators Association.

MAUREEN SALTMAN

Ms. Saltman is a labour arbitrator with 29 years of experience in labour relations, including mediation/arbitration and expedited arbitration, in both the private and public sectors dealing with rights and interest disputes. She is a permanent arbitrator on the lists for numerous companies and unions. Maureen Saltman is an approved arbitrator for the Ontario Ministry of Labour and the Police Arbitration Commission. She has acted as an arbitrator/trainer for the Arbitration Development Program under the auspices of the Ontario Ministry of Labour. Ms. Saltman has taught in the Masters of Industrial Relations Programme at the University of Toronto and is a frequent speaker, conference chair and guest lecturer in academic and professional development courses. Ms Saltman is a graduate of the University of Toronto with a B.A. Honours in Psychology and an LL.B from Osgoode Law School and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1973. She has been a Vice Chair of the Grievance Settlement Board since May 1, 1980.

BARRY STEPHENS

Barry Stephens has been a labour relations practitioner for more than twenty years. He started his career on the legal staff of CUPE, where he also worked as a union rep and educator. He went on to work for the Southern Ontario Newspaper Guild before becoming a labour relations consultant. In the latter role he worked with a number of unions throughout the province, mainly in grievance arbitration as nominee and counsel, where he developed an interest in mediation and arbitration. Prior to becoming a full time arbitrator he served as the senior labour relations advisor to the Air Canada Pilots Association. Barry has been working as a neutral adjudicator since September 2000.

MARY LOU TIMS

Mary Lou Tims is a graduate of Queen?s University (B.A. 1980, LL.B. 1983) and was called to the Bar in 1985. She practiced labour and employment law first in a Toronto law firm, and later as in-house counsel and as a solicitor for the OLRB. She has been a labour arbitrator and mediator since 1993, and has been a Vice-Chair of the Grievance Settlement Board since October 1999.

MICHAEL V. WATTERS

Michael Watters is a graduate of the University of Windsor (Honours B.A. and LL.B.). He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1977. From 1977 through 1986, Michael practiced law at Legal Assistance of Windsor, a joint project of the University of Windsor and the Ontario Legal Aid Plan. In the same period, he lectured at the Faculty of Law in areas of Landlord-Tenant Relations, Law and Social Issues, Legal Research and Writing, and The Lawyering Process (interviewing, counselling and negotiating). Since 1986, Michael has served as a full-time Arbitrator of disputes arising under the Labour Relations Act, the Hospital Disputes Arbitration Act, and the Canada Labour Code. He has served as a Vice-Chair of the Grievance Settlement Board since 1987.