Matthew Weinick is an employment lawyer on Long Island, New York. Matt is a litigator who is not afraid of the courtroom and since the beginning of his career, he has been fighting for his clients’ rights before Federal and State Court judges and administrative law judges. He has tried employment discrimination and retaliation cases before juries in Federal Court, represents clients at mediation and arbitration, has argued appeals before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and the New York Appellate Divisions, First and Second Departments, and has submitted briefing to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Matt has been recognized by Super Lawyers magazine which listed him from 2019 through 2024, after being listed as a Rising Star for the previous six years. A United States Magistrate Judge has described Matt as an “experienced attorney… primarily in employment litigation.” The Judge further commented that Matt’s court submissions were “detailed, thorough, and accurate.”
In addition to employment cases, Matt is experienced in handling other complex litigation matters. For example, Matt represented a beneficiary in a dispute related to the administration of the estate of the “godfather of rap,” he represented a party in a lawsuit arising, in part, from the investment in and subsequent bankruptcy of a large Las Vegas casino/hotel, and he defended the owner of an automobile dealership in a lawsuit contesting the rightful ownership of the business. Matt has been interviewed by various media outlets for his newsworthy cases as well as about trending employment law topics.
Matt not only serves his clients, but he serves the legal community, as well. He has published articles in the Nassau County Bar Association’s newspaper about employment law, he has taught continuing legal education classes about employment law, and he instructed a course at Hofstra Law School, which appointed Matt as a Guest Lecturer from 2016 through 2018. Matt is frequently called upon by other lawyers for strategic or legal advice and he was hired by another law firm specifically to argue an appeal at the Appellate Division, Second Department. In 2020 and 2021, Matt served as Chairperson of the Nassau County Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law committee, after serving two years as Vice-Chairperson.
Matt has been trained as a mediator by the NY Peace Institute, an intense hands-on, interactive training in alternative dispute resolution and conflict resolution. He has also been trained by the United States District Courts E.D.N.Y. and S.D.N.Y. to specifically mediate cases filed in federal court. Matt is available to serve as a neutral mediator and has been deemed “Well Qualified” by the Nassau County Bar Association’s Judiciary Committee to serve as a mediator. For more information, visit our mediation services page.
Before partnering with Pete, Matt was a senior associate at a preeminent Long Island employment discrimination firm where he was trusted with his own caseload and was frequently assigned to work on the firm’s most complex matters. Matt also served as a Nassau County Deputy County Attorney, representing the County and its employees in civil rights actions.
Matt graduated cum laude from Hofstra University School of Law. At Hofstra, Matt served as Notes and Comments Editor of the Hofstra Labor and Employment Law Journal and published an article about workers’ rights. He also interned for United States District Judge Denis R. Hurley.
Notable Cases and Clients
- Won appeal reversing civil service commission determination which disqualified a school district employee from his job.
- Obtained temporary restraining order, then won Article 78 on the merits, after a hearing, returning a medical doctor to work after a hospital terminated him based on a false positive drug test.
- Won Article 78 proceeding enjoining municipality from revoking client’s health insurance coverage.
- Won bench trial in federal court proving defendants’ restaurant failed to pay spread-of-hours wages to worker and violated New York’s Wage Theft Prevention Act.
- After an inquest, judge awarded client $200,000 in emotional damages for a sexual harassment case.
- Obtained judgment for more than $190,000 for two employees who were not paid proper overtime wages by their employer.
- Secured $1.7 million judgment against defendant who defaulted on settlement agreement obligations.
- Represented an NYC school student at a disciplinary hearing resulting in the charges being dismissed and the suspension records being expunged from the school’s files.
- Obtained $100,000 judgment in libel per se case, including $50,000 in punitive damages.
- Obtained judgment for more than $366,000 against employer who failed to pay client proper overtime.
- Won Article 75 petition for terminated New York City school teacher. The court decision vacated and annulled the hearing officer’s decision from a 3020a hearing in which he found the teacher was incompetent and cause existed for his termination.
- Serves as General Counsel for a Nassau County not-for-profit organization.
- Represented police officer in lawsuit alleging department’s placement of officer on restricted duty constituted disability discrimination. Defeated defendants’ motion to dismiss case on summary judgment.
- Obtained determination that probable cause existed to believe that school district discriminated against client based on her disability. Defeated district’s attempts to have Commissioner of Human Rights overturn the determination.
- Defeated individual defendants’ attempts to have court dismiss the state discrimination law claims asserted against them based on an unsettled issue of law in the jurisdiction.
- Won jury verdict on client’s First Amendment political retaliation case for $150,000 in emotional damages.
- Represented fired employee in arbitration against major U.S. airline resulting in client being returned to work.
- Won motion to dismiss all claims made by a plaintiff against client asserting ownership of client’s automobile dealership, one of the most successful dealerships in the country. Decision affirmed on appeal.
- Numerous other successful outcomes achieved for clients.
Publications and Speaking Engagements
- Introduction to Employment Law Issue Spotting, Orange County Bar Association, October 2024.
- Issue Spotting Employment Law Cases, Bridge-the-Gap Weekend, Nassau County Bar Association, February 2024.
- “Deep Fakes and Shallowfakes: New Technologies Bring New Dangers to the Practice of Law,” Nassau Lawyer, October 2023.
- EEOC Vaccination Update, Nassau County Bar Association, June 2021.
- “Second Circuit Provides Practitioners with Clarity When Settling Unpaid Wage Cases,” Nassau Lawyer, January 2021.
- COVID-19: Perspectives from the Field. Nassau County Bar Association, October 2020.
- Changing Work Environment Post-Virus. “Law You Should Know,” 90.3 WHPC Radio.
- “Face Masks and Temperature Checks: An Expansion of Government Powers or a Lawful Response to a Pandemic?”, Nassau Lawyer, June 2020.
- Public Sector Employment Litigation: The Basics of Municipal Employment Cases. Nassau County Bar Association, February 2020.
- Social Media and Employment Law: From Facebook to Emojis. Nassau Academy of Law, Nassau County Bar Association, October 2019.
- “The Intimate Association Between the First and Fourteenth Amendments,” Nassau Lawyer, July/August 2019.
- “An Epic Decision: The Supreme Court Disarms the Nation’s Employees,” Nassau Lawyer, October 2018.
- First and Second Amendment Rights, a Group Discussion. League of Women Voters. April 2018.
- “Desrosiers: Notice of Settlement Required in Class Actions — Even Before There’s a Class,” Nassau Lawyer, April 2018
- We Can Work It Out: Accommodating School Employees With Disabilities, Nassau County Bar Association, November 2017
- Second Circuit Employment Law Update, Nassau County Bar Association, September 2017
- “Recent Discovery Reforms in Employment Litigation,” Nassau Lawyer, April 2017
- Who Wants to be an Employment Law Millionaire, Nassau County Bar Association, February 2017
- “Don’t Get Burned: The Expansion of the Cat’s Paw Theory in the Second Circuit,” Nassau Lawyer, January 2017
- “Second Circuit Settles Pleading Standard for Discrimination Cases,” Nassau Lawyer, January 2016
- Entrepreneurship Class, SUNY Old Westbury, 2016
- Students’ Constitutional Rights, John F. Kennedy High School, 2015
- The ABC’s of Employment Law, Nassau County Bar Association Bridge-the-Gap Weekend, February 2015
- “Unpaid and Unprotected? Interns, Sexual Harassment, and the Law,” Nassau Lawyer, January 2015 (cited by the Hofstra Law Review, Volume 45, Issue 2).
- The Americans With Disabilities Act from an Employee’s Perspective, Workshop on Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, 2014
- “U.S. Supreme Court Raises the Bar for Title VII Retaliation Claims,” Nassau Lawyer, January 2014
- “Undignified in Defeat: An Analysis of the Stagnation and Demise of Proposed Litigation Limiting Video Surveillance in the Workplace and Suggestions for Change,” Hofstra Labor and Employment Law Journal, 2009.
The Personal Side of Matt
Matt lives with his wife, Amy. Matt is a certified advanced open water diver and has explored exotic destinations such as the Meso-American reef system off the island of Cozumel, the Catalina Islands in Costa Rica, and Phi Phi island in Thailand. Matt and Amy enjoy music and they frequent concerts and music festivals together. When not in the office, Matt can often be found with his stratocaster guitar in hand, learning his favorite songs. Matt has proudly served his community as a volunteer firefighter and/or EMT for decades.
