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Willow Petersen

Willow Petersen

Lawyer

Biography

Willow Petersen is committed to protecting and advancing workers’ rights.

The main focus of Willow’s practice is helping unions and their members navigate the complex field of pay equity law to ensure that compensation in the workplace is free from gender-based discrimination. Willow has provided pay equity advice and representation to clients in various sectors, including education workers, healthcare workers, and those employed by municipalities and fire departments. She assists her clients with all aspects of the pay equity process, from developing gender neutral job evaluation tools, to negotiating pay equity plans, to litigating cases under provincial and federal pay equity laws or collective agreements.

An experienced litigator, Willow also represents unions and their members at grievance arbitration, before the Ontario Labour Relations Board, and in proceedings before other administrative tribunals.

Although she appears mild-mannered and easy-going, Willow turns into an unstoppable force when confronted with injustice. As one of our colleagues put it, Willow’s superpower is her ability to transition readily and seamlessly from an empathetic and equanimous counsel(or) to a passionate and powerful champion – and back again.

Willow earned her law degree at the University of Toronto and was called to the Bar of Ontario in 2018.