Darrell S. Gay

Meeting of July 1, 2015 - EEOC at 50: Progress and Continuing Challenges in Eradicating Employment Discrimination

Darrell S. Gay represents corporate and government clients with respect to their employee related issues. This includes hiring/discharge, discrimination matters, traditional labor/management relations, diversity, workplace training, privacy, wage and hour and issues related to international labor and employment concerns. Darrell's work for clients with regard to traditional labor matters includes union negotiations, elections, arbitrations, unfair labor practice charges and union avoidance. In addition, he serves as chief negotiator for his clients during collective-bargaining sessions.

Darrell counsels and provides assistance to clients with global issues, such as managing their data protection concerns, preparing international harassment training and resolving employment issues in assorted jurisdictions. He also assists clients in the establishment of business operations in foreign jurisdictions to enable the clients to engage in employment of both expatriates and local nationals.

Darrell has handled and managed significant cases involving single and multiple plaintiffs, single and multiple defendants, cases with allegations of serious continuing violations and high profile media cases. He not only has experience before administrative agencies, Federal and State courts, but has also handled investigations conducted by the New York State Attorney General's office. Prior to joining Arent Fox, Darrell was a partner at two other significant international law firms, serving as the head of the US practice group at one of them. He also headed an employment and labor law boutique for several years in New York City.  He served as a Commissioner with the New York State Civil Service Commission. Also, he was formerly associated with the Metropolitan Hospital Medical Center in New York, as Director of Labor Relations/Labor Counsel and with the National Labor Relations Board, Region 2 in New York, as an attorney. Darrell previously chaired the Labor Law and Commercial Law sections of the National Bar Association and is a member of the American Bar Association and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Darrell is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.

Darrell chaired the task force merging the historical Harlem Lawyers Association and the Bedford Stuyvesant Lawyers Association to form the Metropolitan Black Bar Association, the largest minority bar in New York State.

A well-known leader in professional circles and in the community, Darrell has played a critical role in founding and leading several organizations. He is one of the original founding former board members of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, an organization that advocates the expanded hiring, retention and promotion of minority attorneys in corporate law departments and law firms. He is the immediate past chair and a founding board member of the National Employment Law Council, the leading association of minority management-side employment lawyers.

His appointments include serving as a commissioner to the New York State Civil Service Commission, a member to the Departmental Disciplinary Committee of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, First Judicial Department; a member to the Governor's Task Force on Sexual Harassment; a member to the Human Rights Arbitration Committee; a member to the Board of Advisors, New York State Division of Human Right; and, a member to the City of New York Manhattan Community Board No. 4. Darrell has appeared on many radio and television talk shows including Court TV, The Phil Donahue Show and Straight Talk, and he is a frequent speaker for the ABA, NBA, NELC, MCCA, PLI and other programs at various law schools on a host of topics related to labor and employment law. His recognitions include: The Best Lawyers in America, Employment Law - Management, 2012-2015, The International Who's Who of Management Labour & Employment Lawyers, 2010-2015, and The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers, 2010-2015, among others.

Darrell received his J.D. from Columbia Law School, where he was a Charles Evans Hughes Fellow, Writing and Research Editor for the Human Rights Review, and a Metropolitan Chairman for the Black American Law Students Association). He also received his B.A. from Fordham University.