Carmelo (“Mel”) Grimaldi is a Partner in the Labor & Employment Practice Group of Meltzer, Lippe, Goldstein & Breitstone, LLP and has over 36 years of experience concentrating on diverse employment and labor law matters on behalf of management. Mel has also earned an “AV” rating from his peers, the highest legal rating awarded by the legal rating publisher Martindale-Hubbell. Only two percent (2%) of New York metro area attorneys have earned the “AV” rating distinction. He has also been selected as a “New York Super Lawyer” for the past several years including 2024, in the area of labor and employment law.
Among his areas of expertise are: wage and hour litigations and investigations, employment discrimination and harassment cases, grievances and arbitrations, union organizing campaigns, collective bargaining negotiations, workers’ compensation penalty matters, unemployment insurance audits and claims, and other employment-related matters pending before courts, arbitrators, and government agencies. These include, but are not limited to the: United States Department of Labor, New York State Department of Labor, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, New York State Division of Human Rights, New York City Commission on Human Rights, New York State Industrial Board, New York State Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board, and New York State Workers’ Compensation Board. Moreover, Mel advises employers on matters involving Form I-9 compliance, paid sick leave compliance, leaves of absence, layoffs, employee discipline and terminations, and internal investigations of misconduct. Mel also has represented employers in both representation proceedings and unfair labor practice investigations before the National Labor Relations Board. Further, he represents companies in matters involving employment contracts, restrictive covenants, employee handbooks, and personnel policy manuals. Mel has also handled numerous cases before federal and New York State appellate courts.
Mel is also actively involved in training supervisors and managers regarding compliance with various employment laws and regulations. He regularly counsels the firm’s clients regarding various human resource issues that routinely arise in the workplace.
He is a frequent lecturer at New York University, Pratt Institute, and Queens College on such topics as wage and hour laws, equal employment laws including harassment in the workplace, and has been a featured speaker for several groups that have offered continuing education credit to lawyers, accountants, and human resources personnel. Mel also is a frequent contributor to a nationally syndicated column that addresses a wide range of workplace and employment questions.
Mel is admitted to practice before the Courts of the State of New York, the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the United States Court of Appeals, the Second Circuit, the Third Circuit, and the District of Columbia, and the United States Supreme Court.
His professional affiliations include the American Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law Section, and the Columbian Lawyers’ Association of Nassau County, Inc., for which he has held the position of President, and currently serves as a Member of the Board of Directors and Chairs its CLE Committee. Mel is also the past President of the Confederation of Columbian Lawyer Associations.