Overview

Amber M. Spataro has nearly 20 years of experience in all areas of labor and employment law, including employment litigation, advice and counseling, and traditional labor disputes. Her advice and counseling experience includes Fortune 500 companies as well as small, five-person employers.

The mainstay of her practice is advising and counseling clients through day-to-day concerns such as termination guidance and risk assessment; wage and hour questions; I-9, overtime exemption and independent contractor audits; drafting and revising 50-State employee handbooks and policies as well as performing necessary training sessions on a variety of employment law topics.   

She has litigated through trial various types of employment discrimination claims, wage and hour claims, including class actions, and other employment-related claims such as False Claims Act, breach of contract, defamation, invasion of privacy and unfair competition claims on behalf of employers in federal and state court at the trial and appellate court levels. Recently, Amber was second chair in a jury trial lasting over six weeks in Los Angeles; she secured a defense verdict for the employer on a wrongful termination and retaliation claim brought by the company's former vice president of human resources.

Amber has assisted in negotiating collective bargaining agreements in various industries ranging from health care to transportation. She has also defended against numerous charges, complaints and representation petitions before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). She focuses on all aspects of union avoidance from restricting union access for the solicitation of authorization cards to successfully petitioning the NLRB to overturn unfavorable election results.

Professional & Community Affiliations

Co-Chair

Labor and Employment Section

Essex County Bar Association

Member

New Jersey Women Lawyers Association

News, Analysis & Press

Speaking Engagements

2023 Tri-State Regional Employer Conference

New York, NY

June 20, 2023

Post-Pandemic Remote Work: A Productivity Boon or a Collaboration Destroyer? What Has the Evidence Shown? And Can We Ever Go Back?

Littler Executive Employer Conference

May 6, 2022

Help! We Keep Getting Sued Over Access to Our Websites and Physical Locations… What Can We Do About It?

Littler Executive Employer Conference

May 5, 2022

The Top 5 Lawsuit Trends in Homecare for 2022 – and How to Help Avoid Them

January 25, 2022

Not All Who Wander Are Lost: Managing Employee Relocation in the Era of Remote Work

March 11, 2021

COVID-19 in the Workplace: Compliance Challenges, Policy Options

April 10, 2020

Sharp Turn Ahead! An Employer’s Roadmap to Recent Legislative Developments in New Jersey

Newark, NJ

November 5, 2019

Speak Up or Shut Up? The Persisting Challenges of Politics and Discord in the Workplace

Littler Executive Employer, Phoenix, AZ

May 3, 2018

Popular Social Media Based Screening Practices That Could Cost You Your Dream Job

2013 Circuit Review Symposium – Seton Hall Law School, Newark, NJ

February 5, 2013

Social Media in Employment

Compliance Seminar - NYK

February 16, 2011

Legal Perils of Employee Use of Social Media

Corporate Counsel Institute - Northwestern Law School

September 30, 2010

Employee Use of Social Media

Compliance Seminar - NiSource

September 29, 2010

Sexual Harassment - What Every Manager Must Know

J.H. Cohn LLP

April 22, 2010

Education

  • J.D., University of San Diego School of Law
  • B.B.A., Loyola Marymount University

Bar Admission

New Jersey
Florida
California

Courts

  • U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
  • U.S. District Court, Central District of California