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RobThorpe

Partner

"I'm not a potted plant. I'm here as the lawyer, that's my job." —Brendan V. Sullivan Jr., Esq.

Overview

Biography

Rob counsels and represents employers in all types of labor and employment matters, including, issues concerning workplace discrimination, harassment, and retaliation; hiring and termination strategies; employee benefit programs; and wage-and-hour matters.

Rob handles state and federal department of labor audits and investigations and litigates employment-related matters in federal and state courts and before the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the NYS Division of Human Rights. In addition, he counsels clients on a variety of business issues, including employment agreements, restrictive covenants (confidentiality, noncompetition, and nonsolicitation agreements), employee handbooks and related policies, settlement and separation agreements, employee theft and misappropriation of trade secrets, and general compliance with labor and employment laws.

Rob counsels businesses on website accessibility compliance, and he frequently defends clients in lawsuits brought in federal and state courts under the Americans With Disabilities Act and the NYS Human Rights Law. He serves as a go-to resource on website accessibility lawsuits and has been featured as a guest on Barclay Damon Live: The Labor & Employment Podcast and has been interviewed on this topic by several national and local publications. Rob also frequently authors thought leadership pieces on the plaintiffs that bring these matters in state and federal courts.

Rob also represents individuals and businesses in a variety of commercial litigation matters, and he regularly provides counsel to not-for-profit institutions, including health care, higher education, and child care clients, in matters involving regulatory compliance, contract disputes, disciplinary issues, government investigations, and tort actions.

In addition to his practice, Rob serves as the firm's hiring partner.

Bar Associations

  • Onondaga County Bar Association, Former Board Member
  • Northern District of New York Federal Court Bar Association, Former Public Relations and Membership Committee Member
Experience

Representative Experience

  • Regularly provides counsel and litigation support to employers regarding restrictive covenants and trade-secret-misappropriation disputes.
  • Frequently provides training and education seminars to employers on a variety of labor and employment issues.
  • Counseled multiple employers in connection with pending or threatened website-accessibility litigation under the Americans With Disabilities Act, the NYS Human Rights Law, the NYS Civil Rights Law, and the NYC Human Rights Law.
  • Obtained pre-answer dismissal of breach of contract, tortious interference, intentional infliction of emotional harm, and defamation claims brought against a not-for-profit corporation, its board of directors, and two of its employees.
  • Negotiated a comprehensive executive-employment agreement for a not-for-profit organization.
  • Represented a municipality in arbitration concerning an employee disciplinary matter involving workplace violence.
  • Obtained numerous no probable cause determinations for employers in the defense of discrimination, retaliation, and harassment claims before the NYS Division of Human Rights.
  • Obtained summary judgment in favor of an employer and two individual defendants in an alleged age-discrimination and retaliation case, and subsequently prevailed on appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
  • Obtained summary judgment in favor of an employer in an alleged disability discrimination case.
  • Obtained a no probable cause determination for a public university in an alleged race and national origin discrimination case before the NYS Division of Human Rights.
  • Representing a not-for-profit rural health care enterprise in restructuring and corporate governance matters.

Prior Experience

  • Hancock Estabrook, LLP, Associate

Selected Community Activities

  • Le Moyne College Dolphin Athletic Association, Former President, Vice President, and Outreach Committee Chair
  • Onondaga County Volunteer Lawyers Project, Volunteer Attorney
  • Sedgwick Farm Tennis Club, Board Member

Selected Honors

  • Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America®: Commercial Litigation, 2023–2025; Labor and Employment Law – Management, 2023–2025
  • Selected to Super Lawyers Upstate New York: Employment & Labor, 2023–2024
  • Selected to Super Lawyers Upstate New York Rising Stars: Employment & Labor, 2019–2022
  • New York State Bar Association, Empire State Counsel Honoree, 2013
  • CALI Excellence for the Future Award: Employment Discrimination, 2010
Knowledge

Selected Speaking Engagements

  • NY Medical Group Management Association Medical Practice Leaders Conference, “Employment Law: Current Hot Topics and Risks to Your Practice”
  • Oryx Insurance Risk Management Conference, “Termination of Employees on Medical Leave”
  • Accounting & Financial Women’s Alliance, “Employment Law 101”
  • YMCA Human Resources Forum, “Sexual Harassment Update”
  • Associated Builders & Contractors, Inc., “Common Employer Misconceptions”

Selected Media

Selected Alerts & Blog Posts

Selected Podcasts

Featured Media

Alerts

RAPID Action: NYS Office of Energy Renewable Energy Siting and Transmission Announces Draft Regulations for New Transmission Siting Framework

Alerts

NYSDEC Issues Draft Freshwater Wetlands General Permit

Alerts

USPTO Updates Audit Program

Alerts

NYS DOL Publishes Long-Awaited FAQs on Paid Prenatal Leave Law

Alerts

Update on Massachusetts Pay Transparency Law Disclosures and EEO Reporting Requirements in 2025

Alerts

Massachusetts Employers Required to Provide Job Applicants Notice That Use of a Lie Detector Test Is Unlawful

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