Catherine E. Reuben

Cathy provides employers, large and small, with fast, practical and accurate legal advice and assistance, helping them to avoid claims and to promote a more just, legally compliant and productive work environment.

Biography

Catherine E. Reuben (“Cathy”) provides counseling, training, and litigation defense for employers in labor and employment matters. Cathy’s clients include both private and nonprofit businesses and professional organizations involved in a wide range of industries, including: education, technology, healthcare, human services, manufacturing, legal and other professional services, insurance, finance/banking, hospitality, and retail.

She frequently speaks, writes, and is quoted in the press on labor and employment law issues. She has chaired seminars, served on panels, published articles and served in leadership roles for a variety of bar and trade associations, continuing legal education entitles and schools. She is an MCAD-certified trainer in harassment and reasonable accommodation.

Cathy is a member of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. She is ranked by Super Lawyers as one of the Top 50 Women Lawyers and Top 100 Lawyers in Massachusetts, and one of the Top 100 Lawyers in New England. She is also ranked in Chambers USA and Best Lawyers for employment law. Cathy is actively involved in a variety of civic activities and projects, for which she has received awards.

Whether the issue is hiring, discipline, termination, discrimination, wage and hour, contracts, leaves of absence, reasonable accommodation, layoffs, manager training, non-competition agreements, or any of the other myriad issues faced by employers every day, you can count on Cathy to provide fast, accurate and practical advice and assistance – without a lot of legal gobbledygook.

Bar Admissions

  • Commonwealth of Massachusetts
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
  • U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Education

  • Harvard Law School, J.D., 1988; Third Year Paper: The Creative Employee in the Computer Industry
  • Amherst College, B.A. magna cum laude in Political Science, 1985; Thesis: Computer Models of Legal Reasoning – A Jurisprudential Analysis; Honors: Phi Beta Kappa; John Woodruff Simpson Law Fellow; Various music-related awards

Experience

From 1994 to 2008, Cathy practiced in the Labor and Employment Practice Group at Robinson & Cole, LLP, initially as an associate and, as of 1998, as an equity partner. Prior to that time, she was an associate in the labor and litigation departments at Brown, Rudnick, Freed & Gesmer.

Publications & Appearances

  • Presenter, “Best Practices for Drafting Employee Handbooks,” Massachusetts Bar Association, March 2021
  • Co-Presenter, “Employment Law for Business Lawyers & In-House Counsel,” MCLE New England, January 2020
  • Frequently quoted in the press, including Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, The Boston Globe, The Today Show, ABC News, the Boston Business Journal, WGBH News, ABA Journal, American Public Media: Marketplace Morning Report, New England Cable News Network and Boston Community Access TV on a wide range of labor and employment topics. Story topics include non-competition agreements, arbitration, disability discrimination, temporary employees, internet and e-mail policies, hiring, sexual harassment, transgender rights, domestic partner benefits, same-sex marriage and blogging.
  • “CORI: A Primer for Employers,” Massachusetts Law Review, Vol. 95, No. 1 (for a recent version click here), June 2013
  • Co-Author, “Transgender Equal Rights in Massachusetts: Likely Broader Than You Think” coauthored with M. Barusch (Spring 2012) published in Boston Bar Association’s The Boston Bar Journal (for a copy of this article click here)
  • Contributing Author, Employment Offer: Massachusetts, XpertHR, a web-based employment compliance service (for a summary of this article please click here) and Negligent Hiring: Massachusetts, XpertHR (for a summary of this article please click here)
  • Contributing Author, “Why I Support Transgender Rights: An Employer-Side Lawyer’s Story,” Chapter 13 in Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Discrimination in the Workplace: A Practical Guide (Christine Michelle Duffy ed. Bloomberg BNA 2014). You can find Cathy’s chapter here, or can find the full book here.
  • “Is Your Law Practice Welcoming to Transgender Employees and Clients?” published in American Bar Association’s GPSolo eReport, vol. 2, no. 8 (for a copy of this article click here), March 2013
  • “The Politics of E-mail: Ruling Suggests Employers Can Restrict Use of Company E-mail for Union Activities”, coauthored with Rita B. Trivedi, published in New England In-House and Michigan Lawyers Weekly, June 2008
  • “The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA): Has It Become a Toothless Tiger in the Workplace?” published in Bender’s Labor & Employment Bulletin, vol. 4, no. 2, February 2004
  • “Hot Potato: Tossing OSHA Questions from the Judicial Realm to the Administrative Forum” coauthored with Melissa D’Alelio, published in Bender’s Labor & Employment Bulletin, vol. 4, no. 6, July 2004
  • Presented educational programs for a wide variety of professional and trade associations, including the MBA, BBA, MCLE, ABA, Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers, the Real Estate Bar Association, the Association of Developmental Disabilities Providers, American Council of Engineering Companies and others.
  • Guest lecturer for classes taught at Northeastern University and Massachusetts School of Law

Representative Matters

  • Provided sales manager training seminar for medical device manufacturer covering issues of hiring, discipline, termination, discrimination, retaliation and other human resources management topics, including industry-specific interactive quizzes, hypotheticals and mock trial
  • Successfully shielded the director of content of an information technology website from his former employer’s repeated efforts to obtain an injunction to prevent his employment with our client, another information technology website
  • Represented health care-related company in federal whistleblowing claim brought by former employee, who claimed multi-million dollar damages. The matter was submitted to arbitration, and resulted in a dismissal of all claims
  • Successfully negotiated favorable settlement on behalf of food franchise that was audited by the federal Department of Labor and accused of child labor law violations
  • Represented law firm in claim of sexual harassment by associate
  • Represented security firm in claims for race, gender and national origin discrimination
  • Conducted mock wage and hour and I-9 inspection for multi-state fast food franchise, uncovering a variety of potential compliance violations
  • Defended linen service company in OSHA retaliation claim
  • Defended transportation provider in class action overtime claim
  • Advised large technology research firm in connection with layoffs, including disparate impact analysis and preparation of severance agreements
  • Represented manufacturer in union organizing campaign; union withdrew petitions
  • Represented large retail corporation in a wide variety of discrimination actions brought by customers and employees, including actions for race, sex, disability, and national origin discrimination; sexual harassment; and retaliation

Affiliations

  • PresidentInternational Network of Boutique Law Firms (INBLF), President, Massachusetts Chapter
  • Massachusetts Bar Association (MBA): Serves on Ethics and Education and Committees; Former Co-Chair of Labor & Employment Law Section; Former Member of House of Delegates and MBA Delegate to American Bar Association (ABA); Massachusetts Bar Foundation Fellow, Presenter at Numerous CLE programs; Contributor to Massachusetts Law Review and Other MBA Publications
  • Boston Bar Association (BBA): Former co-chair of Children’s Outreach Task Force
  • Boston Lawyers Group (BLG): Firm coordinator; Present annual seminar on employment rights and responsibilities to BLG interns
  • Member, Massachusetts LGBTQ Bar Association
  • Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education Association (MCLE): Chaired and/or presented at numerous programs, including Employment Law for Business Lawyers and In-House Counsel and Employment Discrimination Update; Contributing author, Massachusetts Employment Law and Drafting Employment Documents in Massachusetts
  • Fellow, College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, 2013-present

Awards

  • Recognized in Best Lawyers in America, 2012-present
  • Rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell (the highest peer rating standard)
  • Named as a Notable Practitioner in Employment Law by Chambers USA, 2016-present
  • Ranked by Super Lawyers as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in Massachusetts, 2015-present
  • Ranked by Super Lawyers as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in New England for Employment & Labor Law, 2016-present
  • Ranked by Super Lawyers as Top 50 Women Lawyers in Massachusetts, 2016-present
  • Recipient of the Commitment to Service Award by Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, 2014
  • Recipient of the Mattapan Community Health Center Dr. T. Leon Nicks Exemplary Service Award, 2014
  • Recipient of the MBA Community Service Award by Massachusetts Bar Association, 2013
  • Recipient of the Excellence in Diversity Award by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, 2012

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