Curriculum Vitae

Education

William Mitchell College of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota
Juris Doctor, 1980
Bar Admissions: State of Minnesota; U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota

Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
Bachelor of Arts, 1974. Interdisciplinary Social Sciences major. Studies concentrated
in political science, psychology, history, and sociology. Emphasis on psycho-social
development and political behavior. Academic scholarship, 1971-74.

Employment History

Senior Staff Attorney
Tobacco Law Center, March 2001 to Present.
Responsible for delivery of legal technical assistance and policy support services to statewide and regional constituents, including state, county and local government officials; academicians; community advocacy organizations; public health organizations; labor unions, and others involved in tobacco prevention legal and policy issues. Assist in strategic planning and administration. Participate actively in community task forces and local and national policy committees, as well as in national networks, including the Tobacco Control Legal Consortium. Areas of concentration include:

Tobacco-related Workforce Issues (May 2002 to Present).
Responsible for directing the Center’s innovative labor outreach program, WorkSHIFTS, which partners collaboratively with organized labor and public health leaders to reduce the harm tobacco causes Minnesota workers. Address tobacco-related workplace issues, including tobacco cessation coverage issues, and provide ongoing technical assistance and resources to labor and management. Principal Investigator on 18-month Developmental Community-Academic Research Award (2006-2008): Conducted key informant interviews and focus group research; Participant, Harvard Advisory Board on Health and Welfare Plans, June 19, 2006; Principal Investigator on 2-year MPAAT intervention grant (2002-2004): Conducted key informant interviews and survey and focus group research; built partnerships with labor leaders; and directed development of outreach materials. Lead author of A Union Guide to Tobacco, a 7-unit educational toolkit for labor unions (2004); and An Employer Guide to Tobacco, a toolkit for management audiences (2004).
Smoke-Free Workplace Legislative Issues (April 2003 to Present).
Draft sample legislation for local and statewide consideration. Respond to requests for legal technical assistance to comment on pending legislation and assist with implementation and enforcement issues. Co-edited Tracking Tobacco Laws: A Minnesota Digest (2004).
Youth Access Issues (March 2001 to Present).
Provide legal technical assistance in response to requests for assistance. Designed and implemented a Minnesota Department of Health grant-funded study to assess the effectiveness of local enforcement of Minnesota youth access laws. Published study and recommendations in a report to the Department of Health, Minding the Store: Curtailing the Sale of Tobacco to Minnesota Teens. Enforcement Practices, Challenges and Recommendations (2001).
Rulemaking and Administrative Process Issues (March 2001 to Present).
Address issues and concerns as needed, including provision of legal technical assistance on administrative process/rulemaking issues about proposed revisions made to the Permanent Rules of the MN. Department of Health regarding the Clean Indoor Air Act (2001-02).

Administrative Law Judge
Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH), 1986 to 2006.

Contested cases unit, 1986 to 2006. Extensive experience judging contested cases involving a wide variety of legal issues for state, county and municipal government units. Expertise in over 25 different subject areas. Considerable complex case experience. Excellent track record. Decisions used by OAH administration to train new judges.
Child support unit, 1988 to 1999. Extensive experience judging child support establishment and modification cases. Over 2,000 cases heard, with no remands or reversals. Supervisory experience – reviewed orders of other ALJs to check for legal accuracy and clarity of communication. Trained county-level child support personnel statewide. In both units, copies of my orders have been selected as model orders for use by other judges.

Arbitrator
Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings and freelance, 1987 to present.

Mediator
Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings and freelance, 1993 to present.
Areas of expertise: Personal and professional license disciplinary actions (discharges, demotions and suspensions); wrongful discharges; down sizing (re-assignments, layoffs); employment discrimination (age, gender, handicap, race); age, gender, handicap, race discrimination in other settings; special education due process; public teacher (seniority realignments) contract disputes; other types of contract disputes; land disputes; and family law.

Unemployment Compensation Judge, State of Minnesota, 1982-85.
Conducted unemployment appeal hearings involving separation and eligibility issues. Prepared written decisions. Circuit-rode entire state frequently. High volume caseload. Tape recordings of hearings have been used for in-service training of judges. Excellent track record.

VISTA Staff Attorney, Legal Assistance Project for Hearing-Impaired Persons, Central Minnesota Legal Services Corporation, 1980-81.
Represented hearing-impaired persons with disability-related discrimination claims (including EEO) in education, employment, financial assistance programs, and in access to government services or programs/businesses in receipt of federal funds. Served on a non-profit board. Designed outreach brochures. Educated public and increased outreach through speaking engagements.

Legal Intern, Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis, 1979-80.
Assisted team of three housing law attorneys in virtually all phases of their ongoing work: research; investigation; discovery; memoranda and briefs on low and moderate income housing issues and cases (including federal court impact litigation); drafting of pleadings and other papers; telephone intake; direct client contact; observation of litigation and negotiation efforts; preparation for and observation of legislative hearings.

Research Assistant, Professor Mel Goldberg, William Mitchell College of Law, 1978.
Researched and compiled materials on the rights of the confined and helped develop syllabus for law school seminar on this subject.

Research Assistant, Social Psychology Department, Ohio State University, 1971-74.
Participated closely in doctoral studies as experimenter, interviewer, researcher, proofreader, and data analyst, including studies on non-verbal behavior and mock juries.

Additional Professional Experience

Member, Minnesota State Court System Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) – Rule 114 Neutrals Roster. Qualified to conduct all types and hybrid forms of alternative dispute resolution (facilitative/adjudicative).

Lecturer/Educator. Teach lawyers and non-lawyers administrative law & mediation skills.

Co-founder, Screenwriters’ Workshop, Minneapolis, MN, 1986. Board Chair, 1987-89. Board and Committee Member, 1989-91. Drafted Articles of Incorporation, Mission Statement and By-laws. As Chair, managed all operations and programs; fundraising; grant-writing; program design and implementation; special event planning. Ongoing participation as an advisor. Occasional critiques of screenplays for competitions.

Board Member, Articulture, Minneapolis, MN, 2001-2002. Board member of visual arts, non-profit organization with a strong youth and family arts community education focus.

Member. Task Force, East Lake Street Corridor Study, Minneapolis, MN. 2000-01. Participant in planning process for upgrades to the East Lake Street area, including development of the East Gateway site (Lake Street bridge/West River Road).

Publications

Mitchell RJ, Weisman SR, Jones RM, Erickson D. The role of labor organizations in tobacco control: What do unionized workers think? American Journal of Health Promotion, in press.

Weisman S, Lead author. A Union Guide to Tobacco. WorkSHIFTS, Tobacco Law Center, 2004.

Weisman S, Lead author. An Employer Guide to Tobacco. WorkSHIFTS, Tobacco Law Center, 2004.

Weisman S, Contributing author and co-editor. Tracking Tobacco Laws: A Minnesota Digest. Tobacco Law Center, 2004.

Weisman S, Author. Minding the Store: Curtailing the Sale of Tobacco to Minnesota Teens; Enforcement Practices, Challenges and Recommendations. Tobacco Law Center, 2002.

Selected Presentations

Weisman S, “2007 Freedom to Breathe Revisions to the Minnesota Clean Indoor Air Act,” ClearWay Minnesotasm and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, Center for Prevention, Implementation Regional Meeting, Northfield, Minnesota, September 5, 2007.

Weisman S, “Providing and Promoting Tobacco Cessation Benefits,” Minnesota Laborers Health and Welfare Fund, Benefits Committee, Mendota Heights, Minnesota, July 16, 2007.

Weisman S, “Rulemaking Process,” Statewide Partners Implementation Planning Meeting on Freedom to Breathe Amendments to Minnesota Clean Indoor Air Act, May 24, 2007.

Weisman S, “Smoke-Free Ordinances in Minnesota: 2007 Trends and Guidance from the Tobacco Law Center,” Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, Center for Prevention, Communities for Healthy Air Quarterly Meeting, February 21, 2007.

Weisman S, Chaplan, D, “WorkSHIFTS and BUILT: Understanding the Union Perspective,” CDC/OSH Media Network Nationwide Conference Call, September 21, 2006.

Weisman S, “Minnesota Tobacco Control: How Did We Get Here? Where Are We Headed?,” Minnesota Tobacco Disparities Conference, Minneapolis, MN, May 12, 2006.

Weisman S, “Partnering with Labor on Tobacco Control: Minnesota’s Experience,” Clearing the Air: An Institute for Policy Advocacy, III, American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, Fallen Leaf, CA, September 13, 2005.
Weisman S, “WorkSHIFTS: Partnering with Labor Unions on Tobacco Control Issues,” 2005 Conference on Tobacco or Health, Chicago, IL, May 4, 2005; McLellan D, Chaplan D, Rosen J, Weisman S, “Bringing Labor Unions to the Table: Lessons from the Field,” 2005 National Conference on Tobacco or Health, Chicago, IL, May 4-6, 2005.

Weisman S, “Clearing the Air: A Minnesota Case Study of the Evolving Partnership of Labor and Tobacco Control,” 132nd Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association, Washington, DC, November 10, 2004.

Weisman S, Mitchell R. “Attitudes Toward Smoking and Cessation: Focus Groups of Union Members,” 132nd Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association, Washington, DC, November 9, 2004.

Weisman S, Cork, K. “Avoiding Legal Pitfalls in Smoke-Free Ordinance Campaigns,” 2004 Community Health Conference, Breezy Point, MN, September 24, 2004.

Weisman S, “WorkSHIFTS: “Stopping Harmful Impact from Tobacco Smoke in the workplace,” Sharing Knowledge Between Research & Intervention, MPAAT Conference, St. Paul, MN, April 22, 2004.

Weisman S, Peterson E. “Tales from the Field: WorkSHIFTS’ Labor Outreach,” 2003 National Conference on Tobacco or Health, Boston, MA, December 10, 2003.

Weisman S, Peterson E. “Union Members and Smoking in the Workplace,” STOMP (Stop Tobacco On My People) Labor Conference, Albuquerque, NM, July, 2003.