Profile
Rich focuses his practice on providing general counsel and litigation services in the areas of labor and employment law, municipal law, and land use and zoning.
Rich served in-house as general counsel to one of New York’s largest townships for close to a decade and continues to represent various municipal entities in a general or litigation counsel capacity today. He takes an aggressive approach to defending claims against his clients, aiming to resolve them, whenever possible, in the most efficient manner and at the earliest possible juncture. Recent and representative examples of Rich’s litigation results include:
Federal Court
- Favors v. Triangle Servs., 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 124018 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 13, 2016) (enforcing mandatory arbitration provision contained in collective bargaining agreement and staying plaintiff’s pursuit of federal and state discrimination claims in district court);
- Gaffney v. Mamaroneck Police Dep’t., 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117533 (S.D.N.Y. August 31, 2016) (granting 12(b)(6) motion and dismissing age discrimination complaint filed by police lieutenant who claimed he was entitled to Chief of Police position);
- Westchester Cnty. Independence Party v. Astorino, 137 F. Supp.3d 586 (S.D.N.Y. 2015) (granting 12(b)(6) motion and dismissing civil RICO claim);
- DiRuzza v. Village of Mamaroneck, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 166208 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 6, 2014) (granting 12(b)(6) motion and dismissing single claim against individual police officer); and
- Hommel v. City of Long Beach, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33590 (E.D.N.Y. March 14, 2014) (granting 12(b)(6) motion and dismissing discharged employee’s political retaliation claim).
State Court
- Chung v. Mary Manning Walsh Nursing Home Co.,Inc., 2017 N.Y. App.Div. LEXIS 929 (1st Dept., February 7, 2017)(reversing lower court order and dismissing race and national origin discrimination complaint on statute of limitations grounds after enforcing stipulated resignation date set forth in disciplinary settlement agreement);
- Prudenti v. County of Suffolk, 142 A.D.3d 1150 (2d Dept. 2016) (affirming lower court order finding that Legislature had ratified memorandum of agreement by accepting benefits of agreement);
- Pilla v. Karnsomtob, 142 A.D.3d 1116 (2d Dept. 2016) (affirming lower court order voiding petitions submitted in support of a permissive referendum);
- Matter of 24 Franklin Avenue R.E. Corp. v. Heaship, 139 A.D.3d 742 (2d Dept. 2016) (modifying lower court order that granted summary judgment against municipal defendants, requiring plaintiff to resubmit to permitting process);
- Matter of Russo v. Burke, 131 A.D.3d 969 (2d Dept. 2015) (reversing lower court order and dismissing suspended police officer’s petition for reinstatement and back pay).
Rich was also the principal attorney in multiple land use and zoning cases decided at the appellate level during his tenure as an in-house Town Attorney.
