Emily Clara Haigh represents and advises employers facing a wide variety of labor and employment law issues. These issues include front-end training, compliance assistance, investigations, and high-stakes litigation.
Emily emphasizes practical solutions to help businesses focus on what makes them successful. She has extensive experience advising employers and defending litigation involving issues such as:
- Wrongful termination
- Discrimination, harassment and retaliation
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
- New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL)
- New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL)
- New York Gender Motivated Violence Act (GMVA)
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
- Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
- Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
- Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state wage and hour/wage payment and collection laws
- New York’s Unemployment Insurance Law
- Employment policies, handbooks and contracts
In her practice, Emily prioritizes resolution of workplace disputes and regularly represents her clients in alternative dispute resolution, such as mutual mediations. When informal efforts to resolve disputes prove unsuccessful, Emily zealously advocates for her clients as an experienced litigator.
Emily has amassed extensive pre-trial and jury trial experience. Emily’s trial experience includes dozens of multiday jury and bench trials in federal court as well as administrative hearings at the Division of Human Rights.
Emily is an experienced neutral investigator and has conducted hundreds of complex internal investigations of sensitive workplace matters. Prior to joining Littler, Emily supervised investigations for the U.S. Army in her capacity as a Judge Advocate. Emily also facilitates workshops for employers on how to conduct compliant investigations.
Emily is one of Littler’s lead national sexual harassment prevention trainers. She has deep knowledge of #MeToo laws and has facilitated hundreds of training sessions before large audiences as well as one-on-one executive coaching. Her vast experience in sexual harassment laws allows her to apply a pragmatic and legally focused approach to her practice. Emily’s subject matter experience includes a wide range of sex- and gender-based legal protections, including topics of gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, pregnancy related conditions, parental leave laws and lactation accommodation requirements.
Emily is one of the founders of the firm’s Veterans Affinity Group for attorneys who served in the U.S. Military. The initiative seeks to connect veterans at Littler with veterans in business as well as provide employers with subject matter knowledge on USERRA and other military specific employment laws.
Selected Matters
- Whitney vs. Montefiore Medical Ctr., 2025 WL 2101512 (2d Cir. 2025): Successful motion for summary judgment in a disability discrimination and retaliation matter. Affirmed by the 2nd Circuit.
- Weir vs. Montefiore Medical Ctr., 2021 WL 7286472 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Cnty. Nov. 5, 2021): Successful motion for summary judgement in a race discrimination matter. Further dismissed in federal court after a motion for preclusion which was affirmed by the 2nd Circuit (Weir v. Montefiore Medical Ctr., 2025 WL 289497 (2d Cir. 2025)).
- Matos vs. Discovery Commc’ns LLC, 750 F. Supp. 3d 307 (S.D.N.Y. 2024): Successful motion to dismiss in a COVID-19 vaccination matter including a holding that the plaintiff did not sufficiently plead a sincerely held religious belief in her request to be exempt from a private employer’s vaccination requirement.
- Brown vs. Montefiore Medical Ctr., 2024 WL 1367974 (S.D.N.Y. 2024): Successful motion to dismiss a constructive discharge claim based on race and successful motion for summary judgment on the hostile work environment claim based on race, including State and City law claims.
- Guzman vs. Crothall Healthcare Inc., 2021 WL 5048993 (E.D.N.Y. 2021): Successful motion for summary judgement in a sex discrimination and retaliation matter including State and City law claims and claims of Intention Infliction of Emotional Distress and Defamation.
- McCrain vs. Metropolitan Transportation Auth. et al., 2020 WL 1285634 (S.D.N.Y. 2020): Successful motion for summary judgement in a disability discrimination matter as well as dismissal of First Amendment claim and Conspiracy claim.
- Andrews vs. Crothall Healthcare Inc. et al., 2023 NYHUM LEXIS 5: Successful multi-day contested hearing before the NY State Division of Human Rights dismissing five separate cases filed of race discrimination and retaliation.