Amy J. Traub

Partner

New York
T +1.212.589.4248
F +1.212.589.4201

“Amy Traub is very thoughtful, methodical and comprehensive. She gives every matter she works on very detailed attention and instills confidence that nothing is overlooked. She is the cream of the crop and has a unique ability to recite the law but present it in a way that is understandable to laypeople.”

— Chambers USA 2021

Overview

As Chair of BakerHostetler’s national Labor and Employment Group and an experienced employment litigator and adviser, Amy Traub focuses her practice on the management side of employment law matters for clients in all industries, with a particular focus on the healthcare, hospitality and retail industries. She informs clients of the risks involved in a particular situation and, ever mindful of business practicalities, ensures that the resolutions she proposes accommodate the inner workings of the clients' businesses.

Amy is ranked in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business as a leader in the field of Labor and Employment, where she has been described as being "very good at seeing all sides of things and discussing the risks in a way that is very easy for someone who's not a lawyer to understand" (Chambers USA 2015). Amy is also recognized as a New York Metro Area "Super Lawyer" and as a national honoree in the Women, Influence & Power in Law Awards by Corporate Counsel and Law.com. She was recently the recipient of BakerHostetler's "Trailblazer Award" for 2022, an honor designed to recognize a woman lawyer who has made significant contributions to the firm and to the legal profession, and who inspires her women colleagues through example and achievement.

Amy has also been on the front lines of the global COVID-19 pandemic, leading the firm’s COVID-19 Task Force, managing the firm’s COVID-19 Resource Center and providing around-the-clock advice, counsel and strategic business acumen to employers faced with maintaining compliance with various continuously changing federal, state and local laws, as well as guidance from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As the focus has shifted to return-to-the-workplace planning and the future of work, Amy regularly advises clients on a post-pandemic workforce, remote and hybrid working challenges and opportunities and COVID-19-related litigation.

Select Experience

Advice and Counsel Experience

  • Provides ongoing advice and counsel to companies of all sizes. Advises chief executives, human resources and legal departments on all aspects of the employer-employee relationship, including discrimination, harassment, retaliation, leaves of absence, religious and disability accommodations, background check processes and forms, and compliance with employment laws. Counsels clients on termination and restructuring efforts, including New York WARN Act compliance and related issues.
  • Provides ongoing counsel to numerous healthcare institutions and hospitals on COVID-19 vaccination mandates and other pandemic protocols..

Litigation Experience

  • Serves as designated outside employment law counsel for a number of clients with respect to federal, state and city agency complaints, and federal and state lawsuits involving all manner of employment disputes.
  • Representing multiple hospitals in connection with mandatory vaccine-related litigation, including disability and religious discrimination allegations.
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Experience

Advice and Counsel Experience

  • Provides ongoing advice and counsel to companies of all sizes. Advises chief executives, human resources and legal departments on all aspects of the employer-employee relationship, including discrimination harassment, retaliation, leaves of absence, religious and disability accommodations, background check processes and forms and compliance with employment laws. Counsels clients on termination and restructuring efforts, including New York WARN Act compliance and related issues.
  • Provides ongoing counsel to numerous healthcare institutions and hospitals on COVID-19 vaccination mandates and other pandemic protocols.
  • Counsels clients related to federal and state wage and hour concerns, including misclassification of employees, meal and rest periods, off-the-clock work, interns, rounding practices, tip pools and other wage laws. Conducts wage and hour audits for clients across variety of industries, including healthcare, hospitality and retail.
  • Navigates laws and advises clients in all industries regarding the morass of ever-changing COVID-19-related legislation, executive orders and guidance for employers.
  • Works with human resources, legal and compliance departments to ensure compliance with employment policies and procedures. Prepares and modifies employee handbooks and policies, and drafts and negotiates employment, separation and restrictive covenant agreements. Trains managers, employees, human resources professionals and members of legal departments on employment laws and requirements. Conducts audits of human resources policies, practices and procedures.

Litigation Experience

  • Serves as designated outside employment law counsel for a number of clients with respect to federal, state and city agency complaints, and federal and state lawsuits involving all manner of employment disputes.
  • Representing multiple hospitals in connection with mandatory vaccine-related litigation, including disability and religious discrimination allegations.
  • Successfully represented a hospital employer in a federal lawsuit brought by a former employee concerning the classification of the employee's position, obtaining summary judgment.
  • Successfully defeated federal disability discrimination litigation involving the Family and Medical Leave Act.
  • Successfully defended a staffing company against charges brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regarding concerns of discrimination.
  • Successfully represented multiple international retailers in putative nationwide collective wage and hour actions, in which salaried store managers alleged they were misclassified as exempt.
  • Representing multiple clients in a variety of industries in federal and state putative class action lawsuits alleging numerous wage and hour violations.
  • Successfully defeated contract claims by a former employee of a religious organization on the basis of the ministerial exception in a matter of first impression case in the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
  • Lead counsel for a health plan provider in connection with a religious discrimination enforcement action brought by the EEOC on behalf of former employees.
  • Representing a health company in a case of first impression regarding alleged religious discrimination centering on a voluntary communications program offered in the workplace.
  • Represented a major food company in a Fair Credit Reporting Act putative class action case, successfully obtaining dismissal of all claims.
  • Successfully mediates and negotiates settlements in a wide variety of single-plaintiff and class action cases.
  • Represented large hospital system in connection with 19 cases filed against it pertaining to mandatory vaccine requirements.

Recognitions and Memberships

Recognitions

  • BakerHostetler: Trailblazer Award (2022)
  • Law.com: Women, Influence, Power in Law: Thought Leadership, Law Firm (2021)
  • The Legal 500 United States (2018 to 2022)
    • Recommended in Labor and Employment: Labor Management Relations (2022)
    • Recommended in Labor and Employment: Workplace and Employment Counseling (2021 to 2022)
    • Recommended in Labor and Employment Disputes (including collective actions): Defense (2018 to 2022)
  • Chambers USA: Labor and Employment in New York (2012 to 2022)
    • Band 4 (2014 to 2022), Up & Coming (2012 to 2013)
  • BTI Client Service All-Star (2016)
  • New York Metro "Super Lawyer" (2013 to 2022)
  • New York Metro "Super Lawyer Top Women Selected" for Employment & Labor (2020)

Memberships

  • New York University School of Law, Center for Labor and Employment Law: Board of Advisors (2020 to 2022)

Blog Posts

Emerging Issues

Admissions

  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court, Western District of New York
  • New York
  • Georgia

Education

  • J.D., University of Richmond School of Law, 2000; Manuscripts Editor, University of Richmond Law Review; Winner, McNeill Law Society Writing Competition; Regional Semifinalist, Jessup International Moot Court Competition
  • B.A., State University of New York at Albany, 1996

Blog

In The Blogs

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Employment Law Spotlight
Dobbs on Demand Podcast Series
By Amy J. Traub
August 15, 2022
In response to the recent Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in which the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, BakerHostetler partners have developed a podcast series aimed at providing guidance and addressing questions...
Read More ->
Employment Law Spotlight
Issue Spotting for Employers in a Post-Roe Era
By Amanda Van Hoose Garofalo, Amy J. Traub
July 1, 2022
On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court held in a 5-1-3 opinion that Roe v. Wade – a nearly 50-year-old Supreme Court opinion providing the right to an abortion in this country – should be overturned. See Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health...
Read More ->
Employment Law Spotlight
Will states ‘come together' to resolve remote work tax withholding issues … or will we continue ‘waiting here … on the long and winding road?'
By Michael J. Semes, Amy J. Traub
March 14, 2022
As we previously reported, the National Labor Relations Board (the Board) invited public comment in January on whether it should overrule its current standard for determining the lawfulness of employee handbook policies and work rules...
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Employment Law Spotlight
Understanding the New Overtime Regulations
By Amy J. Traub
May 18, 2016
Today, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued the final version of the much-anticipated new Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) regulations regarding the salary threshold for exempt employees. This post provides employers with insight...
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Employment Law Spotlight
New York: Women's Equality Act Legislation
By Amy J. Traub
January 28, 2016
In 2013, Governor Cuomo proposed multiple pieces of legislation, dubbed the Women’s Equality Act (“WEA”), to protect and further women’s equality in New York state. The legislation has been signed and became effective last week. For...
Read More ->