Andrew C. Melzer
Top rated Employment & Labor attorney in New York, New York
Practice Areas:
Employment & labor,
Employment law - employee,
Wage & hour laws,
Whistleblower,
Class action & mass torts
Education Qualification:
New York University School of Law
Practice Areas:
Employment & labor,
Employment law - employee,
Wage & hour laws,
Whistleblower,
Class action & mass torts
17 State Street, Suite 3700New York, New York, 10004
First Admitted: 2004, New York
Professional Webpage: https://www.sanfordheisler.com/team/andrew-melzer/
Bar/Professional Activity:
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- New York, 2004
Verdicts/Settlements (Case Results):
- Represented hundreds of nurses and staff who alleged that understaffing at a psychiatric facility resulted in unsafe working conditions and related Labor Code violations, a case that culminated in a $2.85 million court-approved settlement and programmatic changes to hospital policies and practices (Brooke v. Aurora Santa Rosa Hospital)., 2021
- Served as co-counsel for the Plaintiff, Graham Chase Robinson, in her counterclaims of gender discrimination and retaliation against actor Robert De Niro and his company, Canal Productions, Inc. The matter went to trial in November 2023, where a jury found Canal Productions liable for discrimination and retaliation and awarded Ms. Robinson $1.26 million in damages. The jury also rejected Canal’s counterclaims of conversion, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of the duty of loyalty. , 2023
- Litigated an age discrimination class and collective action against Volkswagen AG's Chattanooga, Tennessee auto plant, resulting in comprehensive changes to company policies and practices., 2020
Representative Clients:
- Mr. Melzer represents the plaintiffs in a class and collective action in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York against Southwest Airlines, alleging pervasive wage law violations affecting the economic livelihoods of hundreds of the airline’s baggage and cargo handlers in New York State., 2025
- Mr. Melzer is co-counsel for the plaintiff class in The Superior Court of California (Alameda County) against Weee! Logistics, Inc., and Weee! Inc. (collectively, "Weee!"), the Asian and Hispanic grocery distributor. The class action lawsuit filed on behalf of Weee! delivery drivers alleges numerous violations of the California Labor Code by Weee! In addition, the matter is being brought under the California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), wherein “aggrieved employees” may file a lawsuit on behalf of themselves and other employees for employer violations of the California Labor Code., 2025
- Mr. Melzer represents the former President of The Boston Globe in Suffolk County Superior Court against the paper's owner, Boston Globe Media Partners. The Plaintiff alleges violations of the Massachusetts Wage Act as well as common law claims for breach of contract, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and unjust enrichment. The matter is in active litigation., 2025
Honors/Awards:
- Mr. Melzer has been named a Super Lawyer for the years 2019 - 2023, Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers New York Metro, 2023
- Selected four years in a row., Lawdragon 500 Leading Civil Rights and Plaintiff Employment Lawyers, Lawdragon
- NY Metro Super Lawyer, 2019-2021
- Benchmark Litigation Labor & Employment Star – Northeast in the practice area of Labor & Employment, 2021
- Lawdragon 500 Plaintiff Employment Lawyer, 2020 - 2023
- New York Metro Super Lawyers, Super Lawyers NY Metro Rising Star; 2013-2014
- Labor & Employment Star - Northeast, Benchmark Litigation, 2020
- 2019 Benchmark Litigation Labor & Employment Star - Northeast in the practice area of Labor & Employment, Benchmark Litigation Labor & Employment Star, Benchmark Litigation, 2019
- 2018 Benchmark Litigation Labor & Employment Star - Northeast in the practice area of Labor & Employment, Benchmark Litigation Labor & Employment Star, Benchmark Litigation, 2018
Educational Background:
- Yale University, B.A., 1999
Scholarly Lectures/Writings:
- Commentary advocating that, contrary to recent court rulings, compensatory damages should be available to plaintiffs in discrimination cases brought under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA, Co-author, Courts Should Resist Availability Of Age Bias Law Damages, Law360, 2023
- In recent decades, the Supreme Court has tilted the scales of justice against workers and consumers and in favor of powerful corporate interests. What is to be done? A comprehensive study., Co-author, States – The Final Frontier: How State Law and State Courts Can Provide Avenues for Justice and Resist the U.S. Supreme Court’s “Lochner Lite” Anti-Employee and Anti-Consumer Agenda, Labor Law Journal, 2020
- Can blatant workplace discrimination escape the grasp of Title VII? In Chambers v. District of Columbia, the D.C. Circuit is considering whether to revisit a rule that employment discrimination must result in “objectively tangible harm” to give rise to a Title VII claim. In this article, the authors argue that the D.C. Circuit should stay true to the language and purpose of Title VII and adopt a standard similar to the simple “treated less well” test used under the NYC Human Rights Law., Co-author, Chambers v. District of Columbia and the Future of Title VII, Saint Louis University Law Review, 2021
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