Jeffrey Kohn

Partner

Jeff Kohn is a partner in O’Melveny’s New York office and Chair of the office’s Labor and Employment practice.  He focuses on the litigation and arbitration of a broad range of employment and labor disputes, including employment discrimination, sexual harassment, compensation and employment contract disputes, and trade secret litigation.  He has handled numerous matters under the National Labor Relations Act and Railway Labor Act for a broad range of clients.  Jeff also has substantial experience in advising on executive compensation matters and handling compensation disputes.

Jeff represents numerous clients in a variety of industries.  Representative clients include:  Bear Stearns, UBS, Prudential Securities, JP Morgan Partners, Ivy Asset Management, Shinsei Bank, and Dai-ichi Life, in the financial services industry; Korn/Ferry International and McKinsey & Co. in the professional services industry; United Airlines, US Airways, Atlas Air, and Polar Air Cargo in the airline industry; Univision, Revolution Studios, Six Flags Theme Parks, NBC, and Magno Sound in the entertainment industry; and industrial services company clients such as Delphi, Interstate Bakeries, Kajima, Cintas, Crompton, and Telehouse.  Jeff also represents the international auction house, Sotheby’s, and the large real estate brokerage firm, CB Richard Ellis.

Illustrative Professional Experience

• Serving as labor counsel and trial counsel for Interstate Bakeries, in its efforts to restructure over 400 labor contracts
• Served as trial counsel in Delphi Automotive’s 1113 proceeding in the Southern District of New York
• Successfully represented US Airways in a 300-person class action brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act in the Northern District of New York
• Successfully represented US Airways in a significant pension dispute with one of its unions that saved the airline $30 million in past contributions and $6 million/year in future pension contributions
• Currently handling six wage and hour class actions against a major financial institution and three hybrid class actions against a major U.S. airline
• Served as lead counsel in the defense of over 400 race discrimination claims brought to binding mediation/arbitration against a major financial institution
• Secured an injunction for Atlas Air against its pilots’ union to prevent worldwide disruption of its operations
• Served as lead counsel in the defense of 50 race and age discrimination claims brought to arbitration against a major financial institution
• Successfully represented Cintas in resolving an FLSA minimum wage and overtime claim in the Northern District of New York
• Successfully defended a major insurance company in a major employment discrimination federal jury trial that led to a precedent-setting decision striking punitive damages as a remedy under the New York Human Rights Law
• Successfully defended Eddie Murphy and Paramount Pictures in a $375 million sexual harassment lawsuit brought by an actress terminated during the filming of a major motion picture
• Obtained summary judgment for United Airlines in a multi-plaintiff, multi-district litigation in which plaintiffs alleged failure to hire claims
• Successfully obtained summary judgment, affirmed on appeal by the Second Circuit, in a precedent-setting decision under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act
• Successfully obtained the dismissal of an 82-plaintiff case against US Airways
• Served as the chief negotiator for Six Flags Great Adventure, one of the largest regional theme parks in the United States, employing over 4,000 people
• Successfully handled many class action and multi-plaintiff lawsuits and injunction actions against clients

Professional Activities

Admitted to Practice, U.S. District Court, Eastern, Northern, and Southern Districts of New York, District of New Jersey; U.S. Court of Appeals, Second and Third Circuits; U.S. Supreme Court
Co-Chair, American Bar Association (ABA), Employment and Labor Relations Law Committee
Board of Directors, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest; Advisory Board of the Center for Labor and Employment Law at New York University (NYU) School of Law
Speaker, Many speaking engagements, including ABA events; Matthew Bender Conference; Wall Street Executive Conference; New York City Bar; NYU Law School; NYU Annual Conference on Labor; and NYU Center for Labor and Employment Law
Adjunct Professor, New York Law School
Member, Dean Advisory Board of George Washington University
Community Legal Services, Serves as counsel to many non-profit organizations, including New York Lawyers for the Public Interest and Safe Horizon
Former Editor-in-Chief, ABA, Employment and Labor Relations Law Committee, quarterly newsletter (1997-2001)
Media Resource, CNBC-TV (commentator on employment discrimination law); Bloomberg Television (commentator on disputes in airline industry)
Contributing Writer, Many publications, including Matthew Bender's NLRA Law and Practice and the ABA's Model Jury Instructions for Employment Litigation