Proskauer Rose LLP

Labor & Employment

Edward A. Brill is the former co-head of Proskauer's Appellate Practice Group. Ed devotes a significant amount of time to representing educational institutions, including Columbia University, New York University, Yale University and Polytechnic Institute. He has served as lead counsel in numerous employee representation and unfair labor practice cases before the National Labor Relations Board, and employment litigation involving faculty, senior administrators and staff. He has represented each of these institutions in disputes involving union efforts to organize graduate student teaching and research assistants.

Ed also represented Quinnipiac University in a widely publicized Title IX class action alleging that the university’s athletic program fails to comply with various requirements of Title IX. Among other issues, the case involves the issue of whether competitive cheer is properly recognized as a varsity sport for purpose of Title IX.

Over the course of his career, Ed has briefed and argued dozens of appeals in both the federal and New York state appellate courts. He was a principal author of the brief in 14 Penn Plaza v. Pyett, in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that a collective bargaining agreement provision requiring arbitration of age discrimination claims is enforceable. Other recent cases include: 

Carroll University v. NLRB (D.C. Cir.), setting aside an NLRB order requiring the college to bargain with a union representing faculty members on the grounds that the NLRB did not have jurisdiction over the college as a religious institution Adams , et al v. Suozzi, et al (2d Cir.), reversing a lower court decision that Nassau County violated due process rights of county employees in implementing a wage deferral plan Lorna Perez & Elena Leffler v. Saks Fifth Ave., (11th Cir), upholding decision of a district court setting aside jury verdict in favor of plaintiffs in an age and retaliation discrimination case Raghavendra v. The Trustees of Columbia University (2d Cir.) upholding and enforcing an agreement settling multiple state and federal discrimination claims.

Ed has represented employers in collective bargaining, arbitration and administrative proceedings before the EEOC, state civil rights agencies, the National Labor Relations Board and the National Mediation Board. He also has represented employers in all types of employment litigation, both in New York and a number of other jurisdictions, including Washington, D.C., Florida, Texas, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, California, Georgia, Tennessee and Puerto Rico.

He also provides guidance to clients, on an ongoing basis, on a wide range of employment and labor law matters, including employee discharge and discipline, equal employment opportunity obligations, development of personnel policies, and downsizing and reductions in force.