Tribunal Members

Jennifer Glougie (she/her) is the Chair of the BC Employment Standards Tribunal and the BC Labour Relations Board. She holds a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. (Linguistics) from the University of British Columbia. She obtained her LL.B. from the University of Victoria and was called to the bar for British Columbia in 2004. She practiced with a boutique Union-side labour firm, for 12 years before joining the Labour Relations Board as a Vice-Chair in 2016.

Alysha Bennett is an associate in the employment and labour group of Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP. In her practice, she assists clients on a wide range of issues, including labour relations, workers’ compensation, termination and wrongful dismissal, human rights, privacy, and other related areas. She has worked with clients in matters before various tribunals and administrative bodies.

Shafik Bhalloo was born in Tanzania. He served as a partner of Kornfeld LLP from 2000 to May 2016 and continues today as legal counsel with Kornfeld LLP. As of May 2016, Mr. Bhalloo also has an appointment as a Professor of Practice and an Academic Director with Simon Fraser University’s Faculty of Business where he teaches commercial law, business ethics, and employment law.

In his legal practice, Mr. Bhalloo focuses on corporate commercial litigation (multiparty commercial/corporate and securities cases), general civil litigation (prosecution and defense of personal injury, fire and casualty claims, breaches of sale of goods, and reals estate contracts and negligence claims against insurance and real estate companies, agents and brokers) and labour and employment law (grievances, collective bargaining, certification applications and employment terminations).

Certified in mediation, he counsels in commercial, insurance, labour and employment disputes. Mr. Bhalloo appears before the Labour Relations Board in certification applications and unfair labour practice complaints and before the Supreme Court of British Columbia on wrongful dismissal matters. He has lectured on non-competition contract covenants, presented for the Continuing Legal Education Society and the Vancouver Board of Trade, among others, and authored several academic articles.

Jeremy Bryant practices labour and employment law as an associate at Bannister & Company where he has represented clients before various administrative tribunals.

Jeremy has volunteered to provide labour education at the Canadian Labour Congress’ Winter School and for Lancaster House. He has also volunteered as an Ombudsperson for BC Hockey and served on the board of directors at a housing cooperative.

He holds a J.D. from the Peter Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia and a B.A. in Communications with First Class Honours from Simon Fraser University. he was called to the British Columbia Bar in 2017.

Before attending law school, Jeremy served as Provincial First Vice President of the BC Ferry & Marine Workers’ Union.

John Chesko is a lawyer in Vancouver, having been called to the bar in British Columbia in 1994. His practice focuses on law at the workplace, including employment law, labour relations, human rights, alternate dispute resolution (ADR) and administrative law. Mr. Chesko is a past member of the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal (BC CRT) and the BC Benefits Tribunal (now BC Employment and Assistance Tribunal). He has authored publications of selected jurisprudence for use by stake-holders and appellants (BC Benefits Tribunal Decisions) as well as co-authoring training for tribunal members. His education includes a BA from the University of British Columbia and an LL.B. from the University of New Brunswick.

After almost fourteen years in labour relations and labour law on the union side, employer side, and with government, Mr. Goldvine has established his own private practice as a mediator/arbitrator, to help bring workplace parties together on grievances or issues in dispute or in collective bargaining, through mediation, or through adjudication as appropriate.

Called to the bar in BC in 2008, and in Ontario in 2011, Mr. Goldvine’s extensive experience in labour relations, workplace dispute resolution, and collective bargaining has also included private-practice union-side labour, employment and human rights law experience, as well as experience in-house with a large public sector union, and in Government, and prior to returning to BC in 2018, leading labour relations at Canada’s largest school board employing over 40,000 people.

Richard Grounds started his legal career working as a federal and provincial prosecutor. Mr. Grounds is an adjudicator for the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and has decided claims of unjust dismissal under the Canada Labour Code.

He was previously a panel member of the Employment and Assistance Appeal Tribunal deciding appeals under the Employment and Assistance Act, the Employment and Assistance for Persons with Disabilities Act, and the Child Care Subsidy Act.

He is an adjudicator for the Indian Residential Schools Adjudication Secretariat deciding residential school claims under the Independent Assessment Process. Mr. Grounds has also worked as an investigator on matters relating to police, employee, and student misconduct.

Robert Groves has been a Member of the Employment Standards Tribunal since 2004. Mr. Groves is a member of the faculty in the Okanagan School of Business at Okanagan College, where he teaches courses in Business Law, Employment Law, and Industrial Relations.

He is also a lawyer practising employment law in Kelowna, having been called to the bar in British Columbia in 1980. He has been a mediator and arbitrator, and is a former member of the Mediate BC Civil Roster, the ADR Institute of British Columbia, and the British Columbia International Commercial Arbitration Centre.

Mr. Groves is a past Co-Chair of the Okanagan Sub-section of the Alternate Dispute Resolution Section of the Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch, as it then was. He served for several years as a member of the executive of the Kelowna Bar Association, and as President in 2003-2004. He has been a director of the BC School Personnel Association, the Kelowna Museums Society, and the YMCA-YWCA of the Central Okanagan. He was also a Law Society appointee to the Board of Governors Law Foundation of BC, representing Yale County, from 2008 until 2014.

Mr. Groves has served as 2nd Vice President and Chair of the Negotiations Committee of the Okanagan College Faculty Association since 2015.

Warren Insell works as an internal affairs investigator for a federal law enforcement agency where he investigates officers for serious offences and misconduct. He is an appointed Member on the Inquiry Committee at a healthcare regulator, where he provides oversight to misconduct investigations and decides upon remedial measures.

Warren previously litigated national security cases at each of the Immigration and Refugee Board’s four tribunals. He spent time working as a Coroner, where he attended and investigated scenes of unexpected deaths in British Columbia. Warren was the manager of litigation and criminal investigation units in a federal law enforcement agency. He previously worked as a uniformed law enforcement officer where he conducted both criminal and administrative investigations.

M. Diane Irvine (she/her) is a lawyer based in the lower mainland with a practice that includes labour relations, human rights, professional discipline, and administrative law. Diane holds a B.Sc in Computer Science from the University of Victoria and a JD from the University of British Columbia. She was called to the bar in British Columbia in 2014.

Brandon Mewhort has a B.A. (Honors Economics) and L.L.B. from the University of Alberta. Mr. Mewhort is currently a lawyer at BC Hydro where he primarily practices in the areas of administrative law and dispute resolution. He previously practiced at two national law firms in Calgary and Vancouver and he clerked at the Alberta Court of Appeal prior to being called to the bar. He volunteers with the Access Pro Bono Society of BC and he previously volunteered with Pro Bono Law Alberta and Calgary Legal Guidance.

Mona Muker is a Staff Lawyer & Tribunals Program Manager with Access Pro Bono Society of BC (“APB”). Her practice encompasses estate planning, appearing before administrative tribunals and the Supreme Court of British Columbia. She is experienced in administrative law, employment law, residential tenancy, wills and estates, and mental health law.

Before joining APB, Ms. Muker practiced real estate, business and estates law as a sole practioner in Vancouver. Ms. Muker is actively involved in the legal community. She serves the Canadian Bar Association – BC Branch as the Chair of its Legislation & Law Reform Committee, and as a member of its Provincial Council. She also serves the British Columbia Law Institute as a member of its Board of Directors.

Lynn is a lawyer at Bright Law, focusing on administrative law and specifically assisting tenants and landlords.

In the past, Lynn has conducted investigations in various areas, including employment-related matters, and performed legal work in a private firm and regulatory settings. She is actively involved in the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (BC), the Canadian Bar Association BC, and serves on the regional council of the BCSPCA. Lynn holds a Juris Doctor from Thompson Rivers University, a Master of Criminal Justice from Arizona State University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology from Simon Fraser University.

Carol Roberts has been an alternative dispute practitioner for over 30 years. She has acted as a decision maker for many tribunals, including the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, the Property Assessment Appeal Board, the Workers Compensation Appeal Tribunal, the Canada Labour Code, and the Indian Residential Schools Adjudication Secretariat.

Ms. Roberts is a panellist with the British Columbia International Commercial Arbitration Centre and the British Virgin Islands International Arbitration Centre, and a member of the Commonwealth Secretariat Arbritral Tribunal.

She is also a mediator and arbitrator with the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada and the International Court of Arbitration for Sport, and was a member of the ad hoc court at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang. She is also a member of the International Panel of UK Sports Resolutions.

Prior to entering the alternative dispute resolution field, Ms. Roberts was Constitutional Counsel for the Government of the Northwest Territories, and in private practice in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.

In additional to a law degree, Ms. Roberts has a Certificate from the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, a diploma in International Economic Law from the University of Helsinki, and has taken LL.M. courses at Cornell University’s Summer Institute of International & Comparative Law in Paris.

Ms. Roberts has been a member of the Northwest Territories Law Reform Committee, the National Association of Women and the Law and a number of committees of the Northwest Territories Law Society Committee. She was active in Canadian Bar Association Activities in the NWT and British Columbia, including the Aboriginal Law subsection and the Administrative Law subsection. She is a past member of the Law Society of British Columbia Discipline Committee and a current member of the College of Dental Surgeons of British Columbia Inquiry Committee.

Sherry Shir is a lawyer in Vancouver, having been called to the bar in 2015. She has BMLSc and a J.D. from the University of British Columbia and her practice encompasses employment, labour, administrative and human rights law in Vancouver, BC.

Ms. Shir volunteers with Access Pro Bono Society of BC and serves as the Treasurer of a non-profit organization that provides families, women, and children with domestic violence and abuse support.

David Stevenson has been a Member of the Employment Standards Tribunal since 1995. He practiced labour and employment law in British Columbia for more than more than forty years and acted frequently as a labour arbitrator.

Kenneth Thornicroft is Professor of Law and Employment Relations with the Gustavson School of Business at the University of Victoria. He holds a law degree (1979) from UBC and a Ph.D (1996) in Labour and Human Resource Policy/Employment Law from the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Thornicroft’s professional practice is restricted to arbitration and alternative dispute resolution.

In addition to his private dispute resolution practice, he is also a member of the B.C. Property Assessment Appeal Board and an adjudicator for the B.C. Student Appeals Branch. Dr. Thornicroft is the author of over 120 academic articles and the author or co-author of over a dozen books.