Odelia Bay

PhD Candidate
Odelia Bay photo
Dissertation Title
Promoting Self-Care in the Accommodation of Episodic Disability at Work
Supervisor

Research

Odelia works within the burgeoning field of Disability Legal Studies. Her PhD project examines the intersection of workplace law and self-care for people with episodic disabilities. Using a socio-legal concept known as legal consciousness to guide the research methodology, Odelia is interviewing 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—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

2023 – present: Legal Writing Specialist, Lincoln Alexander School of Law, Toronto Metropolitan University

2020 – 2022: Writing Instructor (Osgoode), Writing Centre, York University

2019 – 2020: 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
  • 2023: NEADS National Student Award, National Education Association of Disabled Students
  • 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
  • Bay, Odelia. “Working Crip Time: Understanding Workplace Accommodation and Episodic Disability” in Laverne Jacobs, et al., Law and Disability in Canada: Cases and Materials (Toronto: LexisNexis, 2021) 73.
  • Bay, Odelia & Roxanne Mykitiuk. “Confronting Episodic Disability in the Workplace: The Canadian Experience” in The Handbook of Disability at Work (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 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
  • “Working ‘Crip Time’ in Pandemic Times: Understanding the Accommodation of Episodic Disability in the Workplace in the age of COVID-19”, Law and Society Association, Lisbon, 16 July 2022 (paper accepted, panel member).
  • “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).