Atty. Jonathan L. Sulds
Jon’s record in his labor and employment practice, which spans virtually every aspect of the engagement, protection, management and reward of workforce resources, has earned him a spot in Lawdragon’s Hall of Fame of American Labor and Employment Lawyers, recognition by Lawdragon as one of the Nation’s Top 20 Lawyers in Traditional Labor Law, shortlisting by Benchmark Litigation as one of the Top 5 Employment Litigators for Management East of the Mississippi, Lawdragon’s naming him one of the Nation’s Most Powerful Employment Lawyers, repeated listings in Chambers , Best Lawyers , Super Lawyers
Profile Summary
About Jonathan L. Sulds at a glance
Jonathan L. Sulds is a Shareholder; Co-Chair, Global Labor & Employment Practice; Co-Chair, Global Human Capital Solutions based in New York, New York, practicing at Greenberg Traurig, LLP. They have 51+ years of legal experience, licensed to practice since 1975. Their practice focuses on personal injury, employment, class action, trade secrets, and litigation. Admitted to practice in New York U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit U. (1975). Educated at Harvard Law School (J.D., 1974) and Colgate University B.A. Danforth Graduate Fellow Colgate University B.A. Herbert Lehman Fellow Colgate University B.A. 1971 Phi Beta Kappa Colgate University B.A. magna cum laude Colgate Univ (M.A., 1971). Recognitions include AV Preeminent. Active member of Professional & Community Involvement •Member, Leadership Council, Kaufman Music Center, New York City. Serands clients in New York, NY and the surrounding metropolitan area.
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About
- Jon’s record in his labor and employment practice, which spans virtually every aspect of the engagement, protection, management and reward of workforce resources, has earned him a spot in Lawdragon’s Hall of Fame of American Labor and Employment Lawyers, recognition by Lawdragon as one of the Nation’s Top 20 Lawyers in Traditional Labor Law, shortlisting by Benchmark Litigation as one of the Top 5 Employment Litigators for Management East of the Mississippi, Lawdragon’s naming him one of the Nation’s Most Powerful Employment Lawyers, repeated listings in Chambers, Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers and The Legal 500, plus designation as a Benchmark Litigation Labor and Employment Star
- Jon has been representing leading employers since 1974
- He regularly represents employers in the areas of collective bargaining and traditional labor relations, Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) litigation, wage and hour matters, discrimination and harassment complaints, restrictive covenant, duty of loyalty and trade secret litigation, Dodd-Frank, Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) and other whistleblower matters, global and domestic executive employment arrangements, and corporate campaigns
- Jon is also frequently involved in the labor and employment aspects of corporate transactions and class and collective actions that arise in those contexts
- From 2010 through 2018 Jon co-chaired the firm's Global Labor and Employment Practice which was twice named a Law360 Employment Group of the Year during that tenure
- Some of Jon’s recent victories for clients include, Thomas v
- Bed Bath & Beyond, 961 F.3d 598 (2020), sustaining the Company’s use of the Fluctuating Work Week methodology to pay overtime
- dismissal of an ERISA stock drop class action, Martone v
- Whole Foods Market Inc., 2016 U.S
- Dist
- LEXIS 133703 (W.D
- Tex 2016), followed by dismissal of an amended complaint in the same matter, Martone v
- Robb, 2017 U.S
- Dist
- LEXIS 122014, (W.D
- Tex
- Aug. 2, 2017) with that decision affirmed on appeal by the Fifth Circuit, 902 F.3d 519 (5th Cir. 2018)
- in a Zoom hearing a complete defense verdict before an arbitrator upholding the Company's denial of severance pay to a departing founder because of his violation of restrictive covenants (2020)
- dismissal of a NLRB complaint alleging that no lawful impasse had occurred in negotiations Jon had led as chief spokesperson where the terms of the employer's last and final offer were implemented (Time Inc, JD(NY)-30-16, 2016 NLRB LEXIS 574), followed by his negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement based on those implemented proposals, which the client described as providing it 'with the operational flexibility necessary to succeed in today's transformative media environment,' (New York Post, September 30, 2016)
- a complete defense verdict, after 20 hearing days before a JAMS arbitrator, dismissing a senior, highly salaried former employee's systemic disparate impact, age discrimination and retaliation claims
- and UPS Supply Chain Solutions, JD(ATL)-23-15, 2015 NLRB LEXIS 951, in which a National Labor Relations Board Administrative Law Judge found lawful the Company’s declaration of impasse and resulting implementation of periodic changes to a company-wide health care plan
- Throughout his career, Jon has been involved in many high-profile matters
- He negotiated the project labor agreement for the new stadium for one of America's most famous sports franchises
- He has been lead counsel for a leading national employer in several nationwide wage and hour class and collective actions seeking to challenge the exempt status of nearly every managerial position at the company
- He negotiated the exit of multiple divisions of an employer from one of the nation’s largest multiemployer defined benefit plans
- For one of America’s most watched television programs and its production companies and network, Jon gained EEOC dismissal of a multicomplainant charge targeting consideration of arrest records
- Avoiding years of discovery, he pioneered use of judgment on the pleadings with attached administrative record to gain judgment on the pleadings, affirmed by the Second Circuit, dismissing contingent worker benefits claims
- He represented the alleged employer in one of New York’s leading cases establishing independent contractor status, from administrative hearing through argument before New York’s Court of Appeals
- Jon also represented the administrative committee of a retirement savings plan for a major energy company in the voting of company shares held in plan participants' accounts in a contested proxy contest, then represented that same committee in a parallel ERISA-based 'stock drop case.' In addition, Jon gained dismissal of a lawsuit brought by the dominant player in a niche of the financing industry against a startup that had hired the plaintiff's founder and CEO, its CFO and a majority of the plaintiff's sales force
- Jon also advised one of America's iconic brands on the strategy it used to end an internet and regulatory agency-based corporate campaign that had sought to sully his client's reputation in order to pressure it into giving in to undisclosed parties' own institutional objectives
- In another area, Jon led a 40-lawyer team spanning 10 GT offices advising a major media company on personnel restructurings and a similar team advising a major investment bank for the same purpose
- In addition, among other matters, Jon represented the nation's leading telecommunications company in several 'BlackBerry' wage and hour cases
- He also advises a leading national employer on structuring collective bargaining and multiemployer pension plan and health care strategies, negotiating multiple collective bargaining agreements throughout the country, allowing the employer to withdraw from one of America's most underfunded pension plans and then crafting an approach which substantially reduced the original withdrawal liability demand from that fund
- Jon is a frequent lecturer and writer
- His breadth of experience is reflected in the treatise that he authors, New York Employment Law (Matthew Bender/LexisNexis, 2d Ed, updated annually)
- One major financial services client recently remarked to a leading publication, 'for employment litigation we use Jonathan Sulds
- We really want experts
- Looking for a litigator is like looking for a surgeon
- You don't want to need one but if you need one you want to be sure you have the best one.' (LA Daily Journal, November 8, 2016) Recognition & Leadership Awards & Accolades •Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, Employment Law - Management
- Labor Law - Management
- Litigation - Labor and Employment, 2012-2026 •Listed, Chambers USA Guide, 2007-2025 •Listed, The Legal 500 United States, 2014-2025 •Labor and Employment - ERISA Litigation, 2023-2025 •Labor and Employment Disputes (Including Collective Actions): Defense, 2023 •Listed, Benchmark Litigation, 'Labor & Employment Star,' 2019-2024 •Listed, Super Lawyers magazine, New York Metro Super Lawyers, 2009-2025 •Listed, Lawdragon, 500 Leading U.S
- Corporate Employment Lawyers, 2020-2026 •'Hall of Fame: Labor & Employment, esp
- Traditional Labor,' 2025-2026 •'Hall of Fame: Labor & Employment, esp
- Litigation,' 2024 •Listed, Lawdragon and Human Resource Executive magazine, 2016-2019 •'Hall of Fame', 2018-2019 •'The Nation’s Most Powerful Employment Lawyers - Top 100,' 2017 •'Nation’s Top 20 Lawyers in Traditional Labor & Employment Law,' 2016 •Listed, The American Lawyer and Corporate Counsel magazines, 'Top Rated Lawyer' - Labor and Employment, 2013 •Team Member, a Law360 'Employment Practice Group of the Year,' 2011 & 2013 •Rated, AV Preeminent 5.0 out of 5.0
Practice Areas Explained
Jonathan L. Sulds's Areas of Practice
Each practice area below reflects the types of cases Jonathan L. Sulds handles, with a brief overview of what that area of law covers.
Personal injury attorneys help accident victims recover compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and pain & suffering. Most work on contingency — no fee unless you win.
Jonathan L. Sulds is one of 264,852 personal injury attorneys indexed nationally. Browse personal injury attorneys in New York →
Employment lawyers represent workers in wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, wage & hour disputes, and severance negotiations.
Jonathan L. Sulds is one of 169,120 employment attorneys indexed nationally. Browse employment attorneys in New York →
Jonathan L. Sulds is one of 26,424 class action attorneys indexed nationally. Browse class action attorneys in New York →
Jonathan L. Sulds is one of 6,644 trade secrets attorneys indexed nationally. Browse trade secrets attorneys in New York →
Civil litigation attorneys for breach of contract, business disputes, civil rights, and class action lawsuits.
Jonathan L. Sulds is one of 454,532 litigation attorneys indexed nationally. Browse litigation attorneys in New York →
Jurisdictional Context
Why local counsel matters in New York
Practicing law in New York. Legal matters in New York are governed by state-specific rules of civil and criminal procedure, statutes of limitations, and substantive law. Cases originating in New York are typically filed in the local municipal court or the appropriate New York state district court, depending on subject matter and amount in controversy. An attorney licensed in New York brings working knowledge of local procedural deadlines, judicial practices in this andnue, and the substantive law that applies to cases brought here. Out-of-state attorneys generally cannot represent clients in New York courts without local counsel or pro hac vice admission.
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