Steering the Process through Uncharted Waters: Remote Hearings, Bargaining and Mediation

Jeanne Charles Related Seminars and Products

Arbitrator & Mediator and FSIP Member

National Academy of Arbitrators

Jeanne Charles is a native of Chicago but resides in Florida with a national ADR practice including arbitration, mediation and fact-finding predominately in the areas of workplace disputes. She earned her Juris Doctorate (JD) degree from DePaul University College of Law in Chicago. She currently serves as a labor arbitrator on various panels in Chicago, Miami and New York in addition to the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, the US Anti-Doping Agency and Major League Baseball (MLB). Ms. Charles is also a Special Magistrate for the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission (PERC) and is listed with the American Arbitration Association, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and National Mediation Board. In September 2021, Ms. Charles was appointed by President Joseph R. Biden to the Federal Labor Relations Authority Federal Service Impasses Panel (Panel). The Panel is an independent entity within the Federal Labor Relations Authority. The Panel’s Chairman and Members serve on a part-time basis and aid in resolving negotiation impasses between federal agencies and labor organizations. Ms. Charles is an adjunct professor at Penn State University’s School of Labor and Employment Relations where she teaches a graduate course in Human Resources and Employment Relations. She also serves as an adjunct professor for the University of Arizona Law School teaching advanced negotiations. Ms. Charles speaks regularly in various venues that include the American Bar Association, American Arbitration Association, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and nation-wide bar association events. She is a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators and a Fellow with the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. More detailed information can be found at www.JCharles@JCharlesADR.com.

Angie Cowan Hamada, JD Related Seminars and Products

Regional Director, Region 13

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)

Angie Cowan Hamada is the Regional Director of Region 13 of the National Labor Relations Board. Prior to starting as Regional Director in July 2022, Director Hamada was a shareholder at Allison, Slutsky & Kennedy based in Chicago where she represented unions and employees in labor and employment law matters before state and federal agencies, courts, as well as in arbitration, mediation and negotiations.  She was also previously a Commissioner on the Cook County Human Rights Commission and Chaired that Commission. She graduated from Chicago Kent Law School in 2005 with a certificate in Labor and Employment Law. Director Hamada was previously the program co-chair of the ABA’s Developing Labor Law Section, and is an editor of the treatise The Developing Labor Law: The Board, the Courts and the National Labor Relations Act.  

Melissa Sobota Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Franczek P.C.

Melissa concentrates her practice in both labor and employment law. Her labor experience includes collective bargaining for schools and higher education institutions, municipalities, and county employers. She has experience handling union certification petitions, severance petitions, as well as litigating unfair labor practice charges and grievances before the Illinois Labor Relations Board and Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board. She has also advised employers on medical and insurance benefit plan issues in relation to contract negotiations and employee disputes.

Her employment practice includes the defense of employers against discrimination cases filed state court, the Illinois Department of Human Rights and the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission. She has also defended employers before the City of Chicago Commission on Human Relations, the Illinois Department of Labor, the Illinois Human Rights Commission, and the Illinois Labor Relations Board.

Her higher education practice includes negotiating collective bargaining agreements, as well as handling grievance arbitrations, unfair labor practice charges, and representation petitions before the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board and National Labor Relations Board on behalf of colleges and universities.

Prior to private practice, Melissa worked with the corporation counsel of the City of Chicago in the Labor Division and defended the City in grievance arbitrations regarding contract disputes, discipline, and medical and benefits plans.

Melissa is a member of the American Bar Association (Labor and Employment Section), the Illinois State Bar Association (Labor and Employment Section), and the Illinois Public Employer Labor Relations Association.

John J. Weathers Related Seminars and Products

Commissioner

Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service

John Weathers is Commissioner of Mediation in the Peoria, Illinois field service area of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS). Mr. Weathers joined the FMCS in 2016 after working as labor counsel for the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council (ILFOPLC) in Springfield, IL for over six years. While with the ILFOPLC he negotiated and administered numerous collective bargaining agreements, presented cases in grievance and interest arbitration, and handled various court and labor board issues. Prior to his employment with the ILFOPLC, Mr. Weathers worked for the State of Illinois Department of Central Management Services (CMS) for nearly four years. His duties at CMS included grievance arbitration, unfair labor practices charges filed against state employees and agencies and negotiation of collective bargaining agreements.. Prior to practicing labor law Mr. Weathers was an State of Illinois Assistant Attorney General focused on defending the State in Federal and State Courts against various constitutional claims. Mr. Weathers received his undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Illinois and his law degree from the Kent College of Law at the Illinois Institute of Technology.