Michael J. Volpe

Michael Volpe has decades of experience representing domestic and international employers in all aspects of labor and employment law. He represents employers across a wide range of industries—including healthcare, real estate, financial services, private equity, education, nonprofit, retail, hospitality, construction, entertainment, and theater—as well as innovative startups. Michael counsels on workforce risk management, regulatory compliance, and dispute resolution, and regularly advises on labor and employment issues in the context of mergers, acquisitions, and bankruptcy.

He has extensive experience advising clients on union organizing, collective bargaining, labor arbitration, wage and hour matters, restrictive covenants, workplace strategy, employment, and related litigation, such as contract disputes. He routinely leads complex labor negotiations, managing complex workforce dynamics, and regularly appears before federal and state courts, as well as agencies, including but not limited to the NLRB, EEOC, OSHA, PERB, the New York State Division of Human Rights, and NYC Commission on Human Rights. As a skilled advocate in arbitrations and employment litigation, Michael has experience successfully trying cases to jury verdicts in both federal and state courts, as well as securing favorable arbitration awards. Clients appreciate his clarity, practicality, and leadership during sensitive labor campaigns and multi-million-dollar contract disputes.

Michael’s practice also includes conducting all aspects of internal workplace investigations, such as an extensive review of policies, practices, and other relevant information, and conducting witness interviews. He also reviews hiring, promotion, discipline, termination, and other workplace policies, procedures, and decisions, including diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and advises clients on compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws, as well as any existing contractual obligations. He guides clients through sensitive employee relations issues, helping them develop compliant and inclusive policies and respond effectively to allegations of misconduct. He frequently provides training to clients on union avoidance, workplace best practices, and legal compliance, including sexual harassment and discrimination prevention.

Based on his experience, Michael has been called upon to serve as lead attorney in unique litigation and other matters both within and outside the labor and employment space. For instance, Michael has:

• Won a full defense verdict in a $10 million breach of contract case brought by a medical practice group against a hospital.
• Obtained dismissal of challenges to a nonprofit’s $31.8 million real estate transaction and neighboring development (Caraballo, et al. v. Art Students League, et al.).
• Secured dismissal of fraud and tort claims brought by nine law school graduates alleging they were misled about job prospects (Gomez-Jiminez, et al. v. New York Law School, et al.).
• Defended a university in a putative class action related to reporting of postgraduate employment data (Casey, et al. v. Florida Coastal School of Law, et al.).
• Achieved favorable outcome for a college and its administrators in a federal lawsuit involving allegations of misconduct in the athletics department (Cooper v. The Trustees of the College of the Holy Cross, et al.).
• Successfully first chaired multi-month representation hearing before Region 2 of the NLRB representing a major NYC university for a petitioned-for bargaining unit consisting of graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and professional research staff represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW).
• Chief labor negotiator in collective bargaining negotiations on behalf of a major NYC hospital with a mixed bargaining unit of healthcare professionals and nurses represented by Brookhaven Memorial Federation of Nurses and Healthcare Professionals, part of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and NYSUT.
• Chief labor negotiator in collective bargaining negotiations on behalf of a major NYC hospital with a bargaining unit of over 1,000 nurses represented by United Federation of Teachers (UFT), resulting in favorable terms for the client while avoiding a strike.
• Successfully obtained dismissal of breach of contract and fraud claims against a private golf club in connection with a disputed refundable membership deposit. (Archer v. GlenArbor Golf Club, LLC).
• Successfully obtained dismissal of breach of contract claims against a private school on statute of limitations grounds, reversing the lower court’s order and defeating the plaintiff’s motion to amend. (Kaul v. Brooklyn Friends School et al).
• Successfully obtained dismissal with prejudice of all six causes of action—including wrongful discharge, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and Labor Law § 740 claims—on behalf of employer in at-will employment dispute. (Riccio v. Glen Arbor Golf Club, LLC)

Michael holds a J.D. from New York Law School and an M.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University. Before joining Broadfield, he was a longtime partner at an AM Law 100 firm, Venable LLP.

He has also served in elected office in the Village of Pelham, New York, as Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Town Council Member—bringing a unique public-sector perspective to his practice.