BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.4.8//EN TZID:America/New_York X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/New_York BEGIN:VEVENT UID:69-898@lerachapter.org DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261005T173000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261005T193000 DTSTAMP:20260923T152601Z URL:https://lerachapter.org/nyc/events/3rd-annual-joint-nyc-lera/ SUMMARY:3rd Annual Joint NYC LERA / NAA Region 2 / AAA Meet the Arbitrators Event! DESCRIPTION:\nNew York City LERA\npresents\n\n3rd Annual Joint NYC LERA\, N AA Region 2\, and AAA\nMeet the Arbitrators Event!\n3rd annual joint progr am introducing new arbitrators to the labor relations community with a red light-green program and a reception thereafter with food and drink. Alway s fun and informative!\n\nDate and Time\nOctober 5\, 2026\, 5:30-7:30 pm\n \nLocation\nAmerican Arbitration Association\, 150 E 42nd St 17th floor\, NY\, NY 10017\n\nCost and Registration\nYour booking is free\, compliments of NYC LERA\, NAA Region 2\, and AAA\,\nbut please reserve your seat with a booking below.\nQuestions?\nDean Burrell\, DLBurrell1@gmail.com\n\nMode rators\nErica Tener\n[caption id="attachment_1408" align="aligncenter" wid th="300"] Erica Tener[/caption]\nErica Tener has been working as a full-ti me labor arbitrator since the fall of 2010. After earning a master’s deg ree at the Labor and Industrial Relations School at Rutgers University Ms. Tener worked as the labor relations manager for a realty company and then a large hospital in Staten Island. While in grad school she also worked a s a field examiner at Region 22 of the NLRB. Ms. Tener was admitted as a m ember of the National Academy of Arbitrators in October 2023.\nMs. Tener h as served as Secretary on the executive board of the National Association of Railroad Referees for about ten years. She is also listed as an arbitra tor on panels with the AAA\, FMCS\, NJ PERC\, NJ State Board of Mediation &\; NY PERB.\nOutside of work\, Ms. Tener is a member of the New York & amp\; New Jersey chapters of LERA and served as president of the New Jerse y and New York City Chapters. She is currently the Chair of Region 2 of th e NAA. She also participates in the MidAtlantic Salon and has helped to me ntor several up-and-coming arbitrators.\nA resident of Woodstock\, NY\, Ms . Tener travels frequently to hear cases &\; to participate in professi onal conferences. When not working she enjoys traveling the world\, baking for friends and family (especially her two grandchildren)\, hiking and sp ending time in her garden.\n\nDean Burrell\n[caption id="attachment_1333" align="aligncenter" width="200"] Dean Burrell[/caption]\nDean Burrell is a labor and employment arbitrator and mediator with experience gained via t he National Labor Relations Board\, major management-side law firms\, as V ice President of Labor for a Fortune 300 corporation\, and as an adjunct l abor law professor. Dean received his B.S. from the Cornell University Sch ool of Industrial &\; Labor Relations (past president ILR Alumni Associ ation)\; J.D. from American University\; LL.M in Labor and Employment from Georgetown University\, and has completed the Cornell ILR Scheinman Insti tute Labor Arbitrator Development Program.\nPanel memberships include the American Arbitration Association (labor\, employment\, MEPPA)\, Federal Me diation and Conciliation Service\, Postal Service-APWU\, NJ Mediation Boar d\, NJ PERC (grievance\, health and interest panels)\, NYS PERB\, Port Aut hority Employment Relations Panel\, and previously the 3020a United Federa tion of Teachers-NYC\, Local 32BJ SEIU-Realty Advisory Board and the Finan cial Industry Regulatory Authority panels. Dean is a mediator for NJ State and Federal Courts\, the EEOC and is a Special Master with NYS Courts 2nd Appellate Division.\nDean is a member of the National Academy of Arbitrat ors and a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. He is als o a member of the NJ State Bar L+E Section Executive Committee\, Dispute R esolution Section (past chair)\, the Diversity Committee\, Minorities in t he Profession Section (former chair)\, and the NJ State Supreme Court Comm ittee on Dispute Resolution. Dean is a past ABA L+E Section ADR Committee Neutral Co-chair\, president of NYC LERA\, past president of Arizona LERA\ , past secretary of NJ LERA\; past president of the Garden State Bar (the NJ National Bar Association affiliate)\, immediate past chair of NBA-ADR S ection\, treasurer of the NBA L+E Section\; and Master of the Bench of the Reitman L+E Inn of Court. He was NJ State Bar ADR Practitioner of the Yea r in 2022\, and is the first recipient of the Garden State Bar Lifetime Ac hievement Award in 2023. Dean is also a Revision Editor of the forthcoming edition of Elkouri and Elkouri\, “How Arbitration Works.”\n\nNew Arbi trators\nKaren P. Fernbach\n[caption id="attachment_1414" align="aligncent er" width="300"] Karen Fernbach[/caption]\nKaren Fernbach has devoted her entire career as a neutral in the practice of labor &\; employment law. Upon graduation from St. John’s Law School\, she commenced her legal ca reer with Region 2 of the Manhattan Region of the NLRB. In 1988 she was pr omoted to Regional Attorney and in 2012 she was awarded the highest honor by her appointment as Regional Director. As Director\, she was responsible for overseeing the investigations of all charges filed within her Region alleging unlawful activity against both employers and unions. As Director\ , she impartially reviewed all evidence and determined the merit or dismis sal of all such cases. She also supervised the litigation and settlement o f those cases where complaint had been authorized. Throughout her tenure\, she was very successful in resolving hundreds of labor disputes involving every type of industry\, including complex and high-profile cases\nMs. Fe rnbach retired from the NLRB in 2017. Upon her retirement from the NLRB\, from 2017-2024 she was employed full-time at Hofstra Law School as a Visit ing Assistant Professor. She also taught at her alma mater St. John’s La w School as an Adjunct Professor. The courses she taught were labor law\, employment law\, collective bargaining\, and alternative dispute resolutio n.\nSince 2024\, Ms. Fernbach has pursued her career as a full-time arbitr ator/mediator. She was appointed as a labor arbitrator by the AAA. As an a rbitrator\, she has been selected for numerous arbitrations in both the pu blic and private sector. She has also been selected by the parties as a pe rmanent arbitrator on several collective bargaining agreements. Currently\ , Ms. Fernbach is on other arbitration panels including FMCS\, NYS PERB\, NJ Board of Mediation\, NYS Teacher Tenure Panel\, and Labor Relations Con nection (LRC) covering Conn\, MA\, ME\, and RI. As a neutral\, she also ha s expertise in conducting workplace investigations and certifying card che ck agreements.\nMs. Fernbach is also a trained mediator. In 2023\, she joi ned Mediation Solutions of NY specializing in mediating labor and employme nt disputes. In 2023\, she was appointed as a mediator for the EDNY Federa l District Court Mediation Panel. She mediates labor\, employment discrimi nation\, and wage and hour cases filed in District Court. She is also on t he NYS Nassau County Courts Commercial and Civil Mediation Panels. While e mployed by the NLRB\, she volunteered to mediate employment disputes for f ederal employees in other agencies and also volunteered as a mediator with the EEOC Mediation Office in NYC.\nMs. Fernbach is an Executive Board Mem ber and CLE Co-Chair of the Labor &\; Employment Law Section of the NYS Bar Association\, Member of the Dispute Resolution Section of the NYS Bar Association\, Executive Board Member and Secretary of the LI-LERA Chapter and a member of both the Labor and Dispute Resolution Sections of the Nas sau County Bar Association and a member of the Suffolk County Bar Associat ion.\n\nSandra Joseph\n[caption id="attachment_1409" align="aligncenter" w idth="256"] Sandra Joseph[/caption]\nSandra Joseph is a labor arbitrator a nd conflict resolution professional with more than 30 years of labor-manag ement relations experience in highly unionized workplaces. As founder of J oseph's ADR LLC\, she is committed to conducting fair\, efficient\, and im partial proceedings grounded in collective bargaining agreements\, the evi dentiary record\, established arbitral principles\, and due process.\nBefo re establishing her ADR practice\, Ms. Joseph served as Director of Human Resources for\n1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East\, Director of Human Resources for the 1199SEIU\nEmployment Training &\; Job Security Progr am\, and Senior Labor Relations Specialist at New York-\nPresbyterian Hosp ital. Throughout her career\, she has managed complex labor relations matt ers and\nlabor arbitration cases involving just cause\, contract interpret ation\, discipline and discharge\, seniority\, scheduling\, investigations \, attendance\, workplace conduct\, discrimination\, and other disputes ar ising under collective bargaining agreements. Ms. Joseph serves as a FINRA Arbitrator and has completed arbitration and mediation training through t he National Academy of Arbitrators\, the American Arbitration Association' s Higginbotham Fellows Program\, the American Bar Association Labor Arbitr ation Institute\, and the New York Peace Institute. Throughout her labor r elations career\, she has presided over hundreds of grievance hearings\, w orkplace investigations\, and dispute resolution proceedings involving wit ness testimony\, credibility assessments\, evidentiary review\, contract i nterpretation\, discipline\, discharge\, employee misconduct\, seniority\, scheduling\, attendance\, and workplace conduct. As part of her advanced labor arbitration training\, she has analyzed hearing records and prepared reasoned shadow arbitration awards involving discipline\, discharge\, con tract interpretation\, and workplace disputes across both public and priva te sector employment setting.\nDrawing on more than three decades of labor relations experience\, Ms. Joseph offers parties a balanced perspective\, sound judgment\, and an unwavering commitment to fairness\, neutrality\, and the integrity of the arbitration process.\n\nEdward Kennedy\n[caption id="attachment_1411" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Edward Kennedy[/capt ion]\nEdward J. Kennedy\, JD\, MA\, is an experienced Labor Arbitrator. He serves on a USPS/NRLCA Arbitration panel for the Atlantic and Central Reg ions of the United States\, permanent USPS/APWU Expedited\, Contract\, and Discipline panels in Kansas\, Missouri\, Alabama\, Mississippi\, Texas an d Oklahoma\, and permanent USPS/NALC Contract\, Discipline and Impasse pan els in Arizona\, Colorado\, California\, Guam\, Hawaii and Wyoming. Arbitr ator Kennedy is a member of the State of New Jersey/ AFT panel and The Por t Authority of New York and New Jersey Employment relations panel. He is a vailable for private appointment and selection from rosters maintained by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service\, National Mediation Board\ , JAMS\, The Labor Relations Connection\, New Jersey PERC\, New Jersey Sta te Board of Mediation\, Pennsylvania Bureau of Mediation\, Washington DC P ERB\, Alaska Labor Relations Agency\, the Montana Board of Personnel Appea ls\, and FINRA.\nBefore becoming an Arbitrator\, Mediator\, and Administra tive Law Judge\, Ed practiced Labor and Employment law for fifteen years o n behalf of businesses\, non-profits\, employees\, and unions. As a litiga tor\, Ed resolved labor and employment cases through negotiation and media tion\, at arbitration\, before administrative tribunals\, and in Federal a nd State Courts. For ten years\, Ed practiced public and private sector la bor law as in-house counsel for AFT\, Local 2\, I.B.T.\, Local 456\, and T WU\, Local 100 where he served as an advocate in four hundred contract and disciplinary arbitrations that reached decision and negotiated many initi al and successor collective bargaining agreements.\nEd holds a BA and JD w ith a concentration in Labor and Employment Law from Hofstra University an d an MA in Labor Studies from the City University of New York. He is a gra duate of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service’s “Becoming a Labor Arbitrator” course\, has served as an apprentice to an NAA arbitra tor\, and is a member of the fourth cohort of Cornell ILR’s Labor Arbitr ator development program.\nArbitrator Kennedy is from Long Island where he is proud to have been elected to the Herricks School Board at the age of 19\, but now resides in Oradell\, NJ with his wife and children. According ly\, Ed will enthusiastically go to the beach\, if asked\, but declines to adopt the phrase\, “down the shore” as inauthentic despite considerab le pressure from friends and neighbors.\n\nWilliam Weisblatt\n[caption id= "attachment_1410" align="aligncenter" width="300"] William Weisblatt[/capt ion]\n\n\nWill Weisblatt is a Brooklyn-based arbitrator and mediator worki ng in the tri-state area. He has experience in both the public and private sectors handling a wide-variety of contract interpretation and disciplina ry disputes. He also serves as a Hearing Examiner on the New York New Jers ey Port Authority Employment Relations Panel. Prior to opening his practic e he served as an Administrative Law Judge for the New York State Public E mployment Relations Board and as an intern at the New York City Office of Collective Bargaining. He is a graduate of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and Hamilton College.\n\nWe look forward to seeing you there! ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://lerachapter.org/nyc/wp-content/uploads/s ites/69/2026/09/NYC10-5-26Featured-scaled.png CATEGORIES:In-person LOCATION:American Arbitration Association\, New York Regional Office\, 150 E 42nd St\, 17th floor\, New York City\, New York\, 10017\, United States GEO:40.750805;-73.975421 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=150 E 42nd St\, 17th floor\ , New York City\, New York\, 10017\, United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TI TLE=American Arbitration Association\, New York Regional Office:geo:40.750 805,-73.975421 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York X-LIC-LOCATION:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20260308T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR