Esta R. Bigler, Esq.

Esta Bigler, Esq., is Director of Cornell University ILR’s Labor and Employment Law Program and Director of ILR's NYC Government and Community Relations. She uses her extensive background in labor and employment law to convene conferences and forums studying the relationship between social science research and law to address labor and employment law and workplace issues with the goal of influencing legislation and public policy decisions.

A major focus of her work since 2008 is reducing barriers to employment of people with criminal records. Her work involves the use of criminal records as a screening device for employment, the impact of employment on reducing recidivism, employer attitudes toward hiring people with criminal records, and the collateral consequences of incarceration. Her recent work with the Cannabis Workforce Initiative and the Workforce Development Institute is concentrated on the labor and employment law aspects of the social equity opportunities of NY's Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act to create generational wealth in communities disproportionately affected by drug laws.

Ms. Bigler is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and was the 2006 Recipient of the Alice H. Cook and Constance F. Cook Award for commitment to women’s issues and for improving the climate for women at Cornell. She is the current Chair of the New York State Apprenticeship Council and was previously appointed to the Advisory Committee on Governor Cuomo’s Task Force investigating worker exploitation.

Ms. Bigler earned her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and B.S. from Cornell ILR.