With respect and affection the injured worker community and her co-workers recently celebrated Marion Endicott’s 40 years (1976-2016) of dedication as a community legal worker at Injured Workers’ Consultants. Tributes spoke of her many contributions as reformer and activist, legal representative, educator, researcher, colleague and friend. All referenced her empathy, collaborative approach, enthusiasm and indefatigable determination in seeking justice for both the individual client and, through systemic change,for all injured workers.
At the Ontario Bar Association’s 2004 presentation to Marion of the Ron Ellis Award for excellence in workers’ compensation, co-worker Orlando Buonastella [read his full speech] emphasized her profound belief in the individual and collective intelligence of injured workers, and that injured workers, if given a chance, could make significant contributions to the development of compensation law and policy.
Research & reform grounded in reality
This belief has driven her initiatives in public education, community organizing, participatory research and law reform. From street rally to Legislative Committee room, whether preparing a submission against the practice of deeming or a conference paper on the perverse incentives of experience rating, discussing Meredith Principles with an Injured Workers’ Speakers School or tackling stigma in WSIB “blue sky” meetings, her voice has been informed by an in-depth knowledge of the compensation system and analytical research skills that valued input from real-life situations.
We wish Marion well in her retirement or – to use her preferred term – “jubilación”.
Video links
- “Worker Perspectives on Financial Incentives” – presentation to the International Symposium on the Challenges of Workplace Injury Prevention through Financial Incentives, Nov 29-30, Toronto
- “Community Conversations” (3-part video series): interview with Steve Mantis on current concerns in workers’ compensation