Michael DiMattia

Michael J. DiMattia leads the firm’s employment law group in New York.  He graduated from the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations and Albany Law School, where he was a member of the moot court team. Upon graduation, he worked as an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board in New York, and then entered private practice representing employers.

Michael represents management in every aspect of the employer-employee relationship including the defense of employment discrimination actions and common law employment litigation. He regularly counsels clients on preventative labor relations methods including auditing employment policies.

He is also actively involved in union organizing drives, unfair labor practice proceedings, grievance and arbitration proceedings, collective bargaining negotiations, as well as representation of single and multi-employer benefit funds.

Michael also represents employers as both plaintiffs and defendants in claims involving noncompete, nonsolicitation, theft of trade secrets and employee raiding cases. In addition, he regularly advises employers in wage and hour compliance issues and defends employers in collective and class action lawsuits.

He represents a variety of clients in a wide spectrum of industries that range from international airlines to local retailers. Other areas of client concentration include manufacturers, service companies, healthcare institutions, restaurants, landlords, real estate management, cleaning maintenance and security companies.

Michael is a member of the New York State and American Bar Associations, including the Committee on the Development of the Law Under the NLRA. He also is a contributing editor to the Developing Labor Law treatise.

EXPERIENCE :

• Representation in employee contract, tort, whistle blower and public policy claims for wrongful discharge
• Representation in restrictive covenants, trade secrets and employee raiding issues including seeking judicial injunctive relief
• Representation in suits arising under plant closing and employment termination notice statutes, such as WARN and comparable state and local statutes
• Advice in acquisitions, mergers, relocations, expansion and contraction of businesses
• Advice in union avoidance issues
• Advice in negotiation of collective bargaining agreements

Representative Matters :

• Representation of large healthcare provider in claim alleging disability, sexual orientation and FMLA discrimination.  The District Court granted our motion for summary judgment which was affirmed by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Representation of financial institution in claim alleging age and disability discrimination.  Before trial, summary judgment was granted dismissing all claims against our client.
• Representation of multi-employer bargaining association in negotiations involving a collective bargaining unit of nearly two thousand employees.

Education :

• Albany Law School of Union University, JD, 1978
• Cornell University, BA, 1975

Admissions :

• New York
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York

Affiliations :

• Member, New York State Bar Association
• Member, American Bar Association