Odelia Bay

Dissertation Title

Promoting Self-Care in the Accommodation of Episodic Disability at Work

Dissertation Topic

Odelia works within the burgeoning field of Disability Legal Studies. Her PhD project examines the intersection of law and self-care for people with episodic disabilities who work or wish to work. Using a socio-legal concept known as legal consciousness to guide the research methodology, Odelia will interview a diverse group of people who identify as having an episodic disability—i.e. a disability that can be characterized as unpredictable, with fluctuating periods and degrees of disability (or its absence), and that impacts on aspects of daily life—in order to learn about how they manage their disability-related self-care needs in relation to work and how this is shaped by their perceptions and experiences of Canadian law.

Education

Master of Laws - Columbia Law School in New York City

Juris Doctor - University of Ottawa

Bachelor of Journalism - Ryerson University

Teaching Experience

2019 – present: Teaching Assistant, Ethical Lawyering in a Global Community, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University

2017 – 2019: Writing Tutor, Osgoode Professional Development (“OPD”) program, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University

Fall 2014: Assistant Professor (Sessional), Law, Legislation and Policy (LAW 104), Faculty of Law, University of Victoria

Fall 2014: Assistant Professor (Sessional), Labour Law (LAW 326B), Faculty of Law, University of Victoria

Winter 2014: Assistant Professor (Sessional), Race, Ethnicity, Culture and the Law (LAW 358), Faculty of Law, University of Victoria

2010 – 2011: Teaching Assistant, Principles of Legal Research (CML 1101), English Common Law, University of Ottawa

Awards
  • 2017: Helena Orton Memorial Scholarship, Osgoode Hall Law School
  • 2016: Canada Graduate Scholarship - Doctoral Scholarship to Honour Nelson Mandela, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
  • 2016: Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Government of Ontario (declined)
  • 2016: Honourable Mention, Roderick A. Macdonald Student Essay Prize, Canadian Law and Society Association
  • 2015: Hon. Willard Z. Estey Teaching Fellowship in Legal Research & Writing, Osgoode Hall Law School
  • 2013: James Kent Scholar, Columbia Law School
  • 2012: Graduate Student Fellow, Future of Disability Studies Project, Columbia University Center for the Study of Social Difference
  • 2011: Catherine Helen MacLean Prize in Labour Law, University of Ottawa
  • 2010: Dean’s Legal Research and Writing Fellow, University of Ottawa
  • 2003: Dennis Mock Student Leadership Award, Ryerson University
Publications
Publications
  • Bay, Odelia & Roxanne Mykitiuk. “Confronting Episodic Disability in the Workplace: The Canadian Experience” in The Handbook of Disability at Work (London: Palgrave Macmillan) [forthcoming in 2020].
  • Bay, Odelia R. “Battling the Warrior-Litigator: An Exploration of Chronic Illness and Employment Discrimination Paradigms” in Ben Isitt & Ravi Malhotra, eds, Disabling Barriers: Social Movements, Disability History, and the Law (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2017) [peer-reviewed].
  • Bay, Odelia R. “Malingerer or Maligned: A Comparative Study of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Case Law” (2015) 36 Comp Lab L & Pol’y J 381 [peer-reviewed].
  • Bay, Odelia. “Intention Creep: The Supreme Court of Canada Rebukes Intent Analysis in Quebec (Attorney General) v A, Despite a Tradition of Dressing it up as ‘Context’” The Court (4 July 2013).
  • Bay, Odelia. “In the Matter of the Female Mind: An Analysis of the Supreme Court of Canada’s Approach to Women and Mental Health”, (2011) 3 Critical Disability Discourses 1 [peer-reviewed].
Presentation
  • “Introduction to Disability Legal Studies”, Pacific & Western Disability Studies Symposium, Spokane, WA, 18 May 2019 (syllabus workshop).
  • “Doing Battle with the Warrior Worker: An Exploration of Episodic Disability in Employment”, Law and Society Association/Canadian Law and Society Association, Toronto, 9 June 2018 (paper accepted, panel coordinator).
  • “(Re)Working Crip-Time Hours: Exploring Chronic Illness Temporalities, Employment Discrimination, and Resistance”, Law and Society Association/Canadian Law and Society Association, Mexico City, 20 June 2017 (paper accepted, panel member).
  • “What’s the Harm?: Regulating the Intergenerational Effects of Everyday Toxic Chemicals”, Canadian Disability Studies Association, Calgary, AB, 29 May 2016 (co-authored with Roxanne Mykitiuk, paper accepted, panel member).
  • “(Re)Working Crip-Time Hours: Exploring Chronic Illness Temporalities, Employment Discrimination, and Resistance”, Osgoode Hall Graduate Conference, Toronto, ON, 19 February 2016 (paper accepted, panel member).
  • “Malingerer or Maligned: A Comparative Study of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Case Law”, Society for Disability Studies, Minneapolis, MN, 14 June 2014 (paper accepted, panel member).
  • “Battling the Warrior-Litigator: An Exploration of Chronic Illness and Employment Discrimination Paradigms”, Law and Society Association, Minneapolis, MN, 30 May 2014 (paper accepted, panel member).