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Michael S. Arnold

(he/him/his)

Member / Chair, Employment Practice

[email protected]

+1.212.692.6866

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Michael serves as the Chair of the firm’s Employment Practice and has significant experience advising private and public employers on a wide variety of employment-related issues across a broad range of sectors, including the financial, professional services, life sciences, health care, real estate, energy, technology, media, retail, industrial, and governmental sectors.

Mike’s client-centric approach and consistent ability to provide practical advice that reduces risk and aligns with organizational and HR strategies is a continued testament to his broad expertise and leadership. He is singled out by Chambers USA sources as an “incredible advisor and asset to in-house legal departments and operations teams, sharing both his technical expertise and always providing practical guidance.” Chambers USA sources add that Mike is “extremely responsive, knowledgeable, practical, and commercial” and “distinguishes himself in the market by delivering information and work product in the most user-friendly manner possible, enabling teams to efficiently operate in a fast-paced environment.”

Clients turn to Mike for his expertise in navigating sophisticated and highly sensitive workplace matters, including:

  • Counseling on issues related to all aspects of the HR life cycle (from recruiting and onboarding, to retention and development, to separation and post-separation) covering discrimination, harassment and retaliation, wage and hour, leave and accommodation, restrictive covenant issues and other employment-related issues.
  • Conducting investigations of employee complaints, including discrimination and harassment complaints, and assisting management resolve other employee relations issues.
  • Auditing and assisting in the development and implementation of employment policies, procedures, and practices.
  • Conducting anti-discrimination / harassment and other HR and legal issue-based training regarding legal requirements, best practices, and risk mitigation.
  • Representing management and senior executives in connection with a variety of complex employment litigation matters, including pretrial, trial and appellate work; administrative discrimination charges and other agency proceedings (including EEOC, NYSDHR, NYCCHR, DOL, WCB); and arbitrations and mediations relating to wage and hour, discrimination, restrictive covenants, contract, and other employment-related disputes, including collective and class actions.
  • Drafting and negotiating employment-related agreements and policies, including offer letters, employment and consulting agreements, restrictive covenant agreements, separation agreements, and employee-related regulatory disclosures.
  • Representing clients in connection with corporate transactions and bankruptcy proceedings, including conducting employment-related due diligence and negotiating employment-related warrants and representations and related employment transaction documents.

As Chair of the Employment Practice, Mike works alongside firm leadership and key stakeholders to drive strategy and operations, while ensuring optimal client service. Mike also remains out in front on identifying and commenting on employment industry hot topics, including by authoring many posts for the group’s award-winning blog, regularly speaking and reporting on timely and important trends, and hosting the firm’s Annual Employment Law Summit.

Mike is a member of the firm's Policy Committee.

Michael serves as the Chair of the firm’s Employment Practice and has significant experience advising private and public employers on a wide variety of employment-related issues across a broad range of sectors, including the financial, professional services, life sciences, health care, real estate, energy, technology, media, retail, industrial, and governmental sectors.

Experience

  • Represented a global financial institution in connection with multiple discrimination claims, including claims of national origin, age, sex, and pregnancy discrimination.
  • Represented an international media company in connection with claims of age and race discrimination arising out of a reduction in force.
  • Represented one of the world’s largest hotel chains in successfully obtaining a dismissal of an Article 78 wrongful termination proceeding.
  • Represented one of the nation's premier medical centers in successfully obtaining a dismissal of national origin and religious discrimination claims.
  • Represented a luxury residential and commercial real estate development and management company in defending against a wage/hour class action based on alleged failure to pay overtime.
  • Represented an independent global expert services and advisory firm in defending against claims of equal pay and sexual harassment.
  • Represented a state development agency in addressing a highly complex pandemic-related telecommuting disability accommodation issue.
  • Conducted a full-scale employment practices audit for a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company.
  • Conducted a hiring and onboarding employment practices audit for a national life insurance company.
  • Advised a global hospitality company on multiple reductions in force, including regarding WARN Act implications, disparate impact issues, OWBPA compliance, severance program structuring, and implementation of the same.
  • Advised a global consulting firm in successfully navigating mobility issues arising out of various new hires.
  • Advised an international Am Law 75 law firm in complying with its background check compliance obligations.
  • Advised a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company in connection with potential employment compliance issues related to the use of a remote workforce.
  • Conducted an internal investigation on behalf of a global consulting firm in response to an executive’s alleged sexual harassment.
  • Drafted and negotiated an executive employment agreement for a C-level executive at one of the nation’s largest debt securities underwriters.
  • Advised a multinational energy company in connection with its vaccination compliance obligations and overall policy strategy.
  • Advised a global banking institution in connection with the creation and implementation of a bonus plan.
  • Represented various employers in successfully vacating initial determinations of contractor misclassification before unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation agencies.
  • Advised various employers on their compliance obligations with respect to employee use of cannabis.
  • Guided numerous employers in redesigning their workplaces in the next phase of COVID, including by providing extensive counseling on designing an effective “return to office” strategy (in-person, hybrid, or remote), creating vaccination, booster, and testing policies and ensuring a safe office environment overall, realigning leave policies and procedures, and undertaking various workforce planning and change management exercises.
  • Guided numerous employers in formulating and implementing pay transparency strategies that ensure compliance and align with operational needs.
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viewpoints

On Wednesday, the New York City Council voted 50-0 to extend the New York City Human Rights Law’s protections to interns. Last October, we reported on a Federal court decision dismissing an unpaid intern’s hostile work environment and discrimination claims because she wasn’t protected under the statute.
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Have you taken the steps necessary to comply with NYC’s paid sick leave law yet? If not, what are you waiting for? The Act goes into effect on Tuesday, April 1, 2014.
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With the Olympics now behind us (were they ever in front of us?), this time of year usually marks the sports netherworld between the Super Bowl and the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, which is better known as March Madness. This lull provides employers with an excellent opportunity to contemplate the issues that March Madness creates in their workplace.
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Following up on our earlier coverage, last week the New York City Council passed the very first bill it introduced during the de Blasio administration (Int. 0001-2014), a law amending the Earned Sick Time Act that it passed (and already amended) just last year. The vote turned out to be a real nail-biter: 46 to 5. The relevant changes to the Act are as follows:
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The employment practices risk profile for companies that employ members of the same family may have just increased as a result of Dillon v. NED Management, Inc., a decision out of the Eastern District of New York.
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That's what one study by RiseSmart, a outplacement and recruiting firm, suggests. According to the study, the team hailing from the city with a lower unemployment rate prevailed in 20 of the last 25 Super Bowls.
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Mayor Bill de Blasio and incoming Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito recently announced at a joint press conference that the New York City Council will look to expand the Earned Sick Time Act in the coming days. The Council enacted the paid leave law last year and it is currently scheduled to go into effect in April 2014.
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“Many people look forward to the new year for a new start on old habits.” While the author to this famous New Year’s quote remains unknown, that certainly doesn’t make it any less true, including for employers.
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The Affordable Care Act is a massive law that affects a large swath of the U.S. economy. Providers, payers, carriers, individuals, and, yes, employers, are affected, each in different, and in many cases overlapping, ways.
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As use of social media and other technologies continue to raise serious employment-related privacy issues in the workplace, expect to see a flurry of activity in 2014 from federal and state legislatures, administrative bodies, and courthouses throughout the country addressing those issues.
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News & Press

Press Release Thumbnail Mintz

BOSTON – Mintz has earned top rankings in the 2023 edition of Legal 500 United States guide. The firm is recognized in 14 practice categories, and 59 individual attorneys are also recognized in the guide, some in more than one category.

Press Release Thumbnail Mintz

BOSTON – Mintz has earned top rankings in the 2023 edition of Legal 500 United States guide. The firm is recognized in 14 practice categories, and 59 individual attorneys are also recognized in the guide, some in more than one category.

News Thumbnail Mintz
Mintz Member and Chair of the firm’s Employment, Labor & Benefits Practice Michael Arnold was quoted in an article published by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)’s HR Magazine that provided key considerations for employers making a case for returning to the workplace, including employees’ perspectives and preferences, pandemic-related challenges, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance for employers seeking to re-establish in-person business operations.
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Events & Speaking

Speaker
Jun
2
2026
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Speaker
May
7
2026
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Speaker
Apr
30
2026

2026 Employment Law Summit – New York

Mintz

Convene, New York, NY

Event Reference Image
May
1
2025

Mintz's Annual Employment Law Summit 2025 - New York

Convene, 601 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10022

Speaker
Speaker
Speaker
Speaker
Speaker
Apr
30
2019
Speaker
Jan
28
2016

Second Annual Employment Law Summit

The Princeton Club 14 West 43rd Street, New York, New York

Speaker
Jan
20
2015

Emerging Employment Issues in 2015

The Princeton Club

New York, NY

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Michael serves as the Chair of the firm’s Employment Practice and has significant experience advising private and public employers on a wide variety of employment-related issues across a broad range of sectors, including the financial, professional services, life sciences, health care, real estate, energy, technology, media, retail, industrial, and governmental sectors.

Recognition & Awards

  • Chambers USA: New York – Labor & Employment, Band 5 (2023 – 2026)

  • Lawdragon: Labor & Employment, Counseling, Investigations (2026)

  • Legal 500 United States: Workplace and Employment Counseling (2022 – 2025)

  • Legal 500 United States: Employee Benefits and Retirement Plans (2023 – 2025)

  • New York Super Lawyers: Employment & Labor (2012 – 2025)

  • Chambers USA: New York – Labor & Employment, Up and Coming (2021)

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Michael S. Arnold

(he/him/his)

Member / Chair, Employment Practice

New York