Susan Gross Sholinsky

"My clients have relied on me for five, 10, 15, and even 20 years, not because employment law is simple, but because I make navigating it feel that way." —Susan Gross Sholinsky

Employers facing the day-to-day complexities of managing a workforce seek out attorney Susan Gross Sholinsky for her straightforward advice and access to boots-on-the-ground resources, regardless of location.

Susan counsels executives, human resources (HR) professionals, and in-house legal teams at private equity-owned companies, financial services firms, pharmaceutical companies, and insurance companies, among others, on the full spectrum of employment compliance matters, including discrimination, sexual harassment, restrictive covenants, paid leave, and wage and hour requirements. A number of her clients are foreign multinationals with HR staff based in the parent country who are unfamiliar with the nuances of U.S. employment law.

Clients typically come to her at a moment of change—opening or expanding in the United States, hiring in a new state, closing a transaction, or responding to an internal complaint—when the cost of getting it wrong could mean unhappy employees, litigation, or both. She has developed long-term relationships with these clients by being a sharp, versatile advisor who genuinely knows their people, their business, and the stakes involved, and who makes even the most difficult workforce situations manageable.

A significant part of Susan's practice involves workforce training. She designs and leads programs on anti-harassment, “manager 101,” diversity, internal investigations, accommodations and the interactive process, and performance management. Her effective training style equips managers with the tools to spot problems early and boost productivity through safe, compliant practices. She also conducts one-on-one sessions with employees whose inappropriate workplace behavior puts both themselves and their company at risk. These sessions help employees understand the consequences of their actions and encourage them to change how they interact with colleagues. Susan also helps employers respond rapidly to social issues and comply with ever-changing federal, state, and local employment laws.

Susan holds several leadership positions within Epstein Becker Green, including serving as a member of its Board of Directors; Chair of the National Employment, Labor & Workforce Management Steering Committee; and member of the Diversity and Professional Development Committee. She is also on the Executive Committee of the Women's Initiative and oversees Epstein Becker Green's employment compliance practice, including its legislative updates and publications. Outside the firm, she has served as New York Co-Chair of 50/50 Women on Boards: Global Conversation on Board Diversity and currently is a Trustee at the Dalton School. In 2020, City & State New York recognized her as one of the Responsible 100, an award honoring private-sector leaders whose work improves life in New York communities. She also received the 2024 Arts Advocate Award from Marquis Studios, a non-profit organization that brings arts education to NYC public schools.

What Susan Delivers for Clients

• Compliance Without Reinvention: Susan and her team have built the agreements, policies, and processes that employment compliance requires—across industries and jurisdictions—and bring that accumulated knowledge to every engagement. Clients get practical, ready-to-deploy solutions rather than having to start from scratch each time.
• Acquisition-Ready Workforce Integration: When a company makes an acquisition, Susan literally writes the legal and compliance script: reviewing employment agreements, auditing benefits, analyzing wage and hour classifications, and drafting employee communications that make the transition feel seamless rather than disruptive.
• Agreements That Travel: Susan assists clients in tightening and modernizing their employment agreements and policies to be clear, user-friendly, and compliant in any state or city. Companies that operate across multiple jurisdictions no longer need a patchwork of documents for each location.
• Training That Changes Behavior: Whether she is leading a company-wide anti-harassment program, designing an internal investigations curriculum for an in-house legal team, or sitting down with a difficult employee, Susan's training translates legal requirements into practical habits that reduce risk and improve workplace culture.
• A Problem-Solver for Any Situation: Susan's clients do not just call her once; they rely on her for every curveball. When an employee situation defies easy categorization, she finds simple, creative solutions where others might see only complexity.

Mergers, Acquisitions, and Workforce Integration

• Managed a software company’s absorption of two companies. Susan reviewed existing employment agreements and offer letters to ensure the company understood its obligations and drafted scripts to communicate with employees. She facilitated the auditing of 401(k), pension, severance, and stock benefits and helped ensure a seamless transition of benefits by merging the company handbook and other policies across the various entities involved. Susan also reviewed the wage and hour exemption status of incoming employees to confirm compliance with federal and local laws.

Compliance Counseling and Policy Development

• Created a global sexual harassment policy for a major international private equity firm. This substantial undertaking required Susan to coordinate with local counsel across multiple countries to ensure the company’s uniform policy could be implemented to the extent practicable in all locations.
• Counseled numerous clients on updating their paid time off (PTO) policies to incorporate nationwide sick time requirements and, where desired, provide unlimited PTO. Susan frequently advises clients in creating a “leave suite” to avoid overlapping policies for Family and Medical Leave Act, paid family leave, short-term disability, workers' compensation, and salary continuation.
• Spearheaded initiatives for major global financial services companies, large international retailers, and a major U.S. sports league to address key areas of focus, including “ban the box” policies, flexible work policies, accommodations, sick leave, family leave, equal pay, salary history inquiry bans, and LGBTQ+ rights. Susan helps clients stay current with rapidly changing laws across the country and makes it easier for them to keep pace with changing rules regarding compliant policies, updated forms, posting requirements, and employment training.
• Oversaw various pay equity audits, including one at a major pharmaceutical firm.
• Advised clients on all aspects of COVID-19 workforce management. Susan helped clients assess their workforce needs and prepare for layoffs and furloughs. She provided due diligence of their selection process and drafted furlough notices, employee FAQs, and separation agreements. She prepared leave of absence and remote work policies for during- and post-COVID-19 workforces, provided return-to-work safety training, and facilitated the creation and enforcement of protocols to address actual and suspected positive COVID-19 cases in the workplace.

Training and Internal Investigations

• Conducted sexual harassment and manager training for a major hospital’s administrators, supervisors, and chiefs. Susan trained thousands of employees in several locations.
• Designed and led a four-day intensive internal investigation training program for the U.S. HR, Compliance, and in-house legal teams of one of Japan’s largest banks, which gave the company a cost-effective means to conduct its own investigations.
• Trained numerous HR and legal teams for compliance in response to the #MeToo movement. Through a series of in-person and virtual programs, including Halting Harassment, Susan gave clients a roadmap for dealing with harassment claims with the right procedures. She also helps ensure that systems are in place to avoid future allegations.

Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.

Listed in:

• Chambers USA: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business: New York—Labor & Employment, "Leader in Their Field" (2022 to 2025). 
• City & State New York: “The Responsible 100” (2020). 
• The Legal 500 United States: Labor and Employment Disputes (Including Collective Actions): Defense (2024 to 2025); Workplace and Employment Counseling (2019 to 2022, 2024, 2025). 
• Marquis Studios: Arts Advocate Award (2024)

No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. Learn more about the award selection criteria and ranking methodology.

Education

• Northwestern Pritzker School of Law (J.D., 2000)
• Cornell University (B.S., 1995)
  • School of Industrial and Labor Relations

Professional & Community Involvement

• 50/50 Women on Boards: Global Conversation on Board Diversity, New York Co-Chair (2019 to Present)
• The Dalton School, Trustee
• National Association of Women Lawyers
• New York City Bar Association, former Labor and Employment Law Committee Member
• New York State Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law Section