Chaya Gourarie

Chaya Gourarie is a senior counsel at Tully Rinckey PLLC and focuses her practice on labor and employment law. She litigates all aspects of employer-employee relations, including hiring, compensation, classifications, accommodations, as well as internal investigations, disciplinary and termination activity. Ms. Gourarie also litigates claims of sexual harassment, employment discrimination, and wage-and-hour claims.

Ms. Gourarie has additionally aggressively litigated cases pursuant to the Child Victim Act (“CVA”) to obtain justice for victims of childhood sexual abuse.

Ms. Gourarie has demonstrated exceptional ability when it comes to legal analysis and writing. She is adept at parsing apart complex legal issues and identifying winning legal arguments. Through her professional legal experience, which includes extensive motion and appellate practice, Ms. Gourarie has developed a thorough grasp of employment law and is regularly sought after by her colleagues for strategic advice and practice pointers.

Ms. Gourarie has been admitted to practice law in New York State; in the United States District Court for the Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of New York; and in the United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals. She is a member of the New York City Bar Association (“NYCBA”) and is an active member of its Labor and Employment Committee. Likewise, Ms. Gourarie is a member of the National Association of Women Lawyers (“NAWL”), where she is part of NAWL’s editorial board for the Women Lawyers Journal (WLJ).

Ms. Gourarie has been recognized as a Rising Star by Super Lawyers every year since 2018. She lives in Staten Island and enjoys spending time with her family.

Court & Bar Admissions: 

• Admitted in New York State
• United States District Court for the Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of New York
• United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

Education:

• Wayne State University (Detroit, MI) | Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, in political science-honors, May 2007
• Wayne State University Graduate School (Detroit, MI) | Master of Arts in political science, August 2009
• Wayne State University Law School (Detroit, MI) | Juris Doctorate, August 2012

Awards:

• Super Lawyers Rising Star every year since 2018.

Reported Decisions:

• Prospect Funding Holdings, LLC v. Paiz, 183 A.D.3d 486 (1st Dept. 2020): Defeated Plaintiff’s appeal, in a commercial law case, involving a debt arising from a Third-Party Litigation Funding agreement.
• Mathew v. SMZ Impex, Inc., No. 17-CV-9870 (JPO), 2019 WL 4409442 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 16, 2019): Prevailed in a motion for conditional certification of a collective action under 29 U.S.C. § 216(b).
• Wellner v. Montefiore Med. Ctr., No. 17-CV-3479 (KPF), 2019 WL 4081898 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 29, 2019): Defeated motion for summary judgment in an unlawful termination and failure to accommodate case under the ADA and NYCHRL, where Plaintiff sought medical leave and wanted additional leave time.
• Prospect Funding Holdings, LLC – v. – Shannon Paiz et al., No. 652396/2016 (New York County: May 21, 2019): Defeated motion for summary judgment, and obtained summary judgment, in a commercial law case, involving a debt arising from a Third-Party Litigation Funding agreement.
• Handlowitch v. Verizon Commc’ns, Inc., No. 18-CV-617 (RJS), 2019 WL 1789708 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 24, 2019): Defeated defendant’s motion to remove an age discrimination case to federal court, on grounds that the claims were subsumed by ERISA.
• Green v. Humana At Home, Inc., No. 16-CV-7586 (AJN), 2019 WL 1437613 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 30, 2019): Defeated motion for summary judgment motion, in part, in a wage and hour case, under the FLSA and NYLL, involving home health care aides.
• Perry v. The Lighting Group, LLC et al., No. 154923/2018 (New York County: Feb. 28, 2019): Defeated a motion to dismiss in a sexual harassment case, under the NYCHRL, where Defendant claimed that Plaintiff’s claims were barred by her severance agreement with her employer.
• Andon v. SDG Properties, Inc., No. 17-CV-7876 (ALC) (KHP), 2018 WL 3970910 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 20, 2018): Prevailed in a motion for conditional certification of a collective action under 29 U.S.C. § 216(b).
• Green v. Humana at Home, Inc., No. 16-CV-7586 (AJN), 2017 WL 9916832 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 29, 2017): Defeated Defendant’s motion to dismiss a complaint alleging wage and hour claims, arising from a new DOL Regulation (the Home Care Final Rule), on grounds that the Regulation had been temporarily invalidated by a D.C. District Court, and therefore, Defendant’s non-compliance was justified.
• Salvat v. Construction Resources Corp. et al., 1:17-CV-04002-VEC (2016): Defeated a motion to dismiss in a sexual harassment case, under Title VII and NYCHRL, where Defendant claimed it was not an “employer” under Title VII as it was only the sub-contractor.