Overview
Cheryl Pinarchick is a member of the firm’s Essential Business Taskforce developed in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis. The group is dedicated to assisting businesses impacted by shelter-in-place or shutdown orders, ensuring their doors stay open where possible in the face of government orders.
Additionally, Cheryl is a member of the firm’s SBA Loan Team, dedicated to advising employers on the inner workings of the complex CARES Act loan process during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Cheryl Pinarchick is the managing partner of the firm's Boston office and co-chair of the Pay Equity Practice Group.
Cheryl has extensive experience handling all aspects of employment litigation, including trials in state and federal court throughout the United States. She has successfully defended employment lawsuits alleging wrongful termination, employment discrimination and harassment, wage and hour violations, retaliation and other related claims. She has also successfully prosecuted trade secret and non-competition agreements in numerous jurisdictions.
Cheryl has a sophisticated wage and hour practice and has obtained favorable outcomes for client in wage and hour matters, including class and collective actions arising under the Fair Labor Standards Act and various state laws.
Cheryl routinely counsels U.S. and foreign-based companies on compliance with employment laws and litigation avoidance. Her clients include public and private companies in a variety of industries, including financial services, biotech, government relations and emerging technologies.
With the patchwork of emerging state and local pay equity laws, Cheryl has been dedicating significant time to the legal issues surrounding pay equality, state pay equity legislation and litigation and pay equity compliance audits. She is a frequent presenter on pay equity both locally and nationally.
Experience
Experience
- Obtained summary judgment in multi-million dollar wage and hour case on behalf of an emerging technology company.
- Obtained the dismissals of numerous discrimination and retaliation cases against national fitness chain.
- Directed and conducted pay equity audits for employers of various sizes across multiple industries.
- Successfully represented international research and development company in connection with pay equity investigation by the Massachusetts Attorney General.
- Trial counsel for the defendant in a two-week jury trial resulting in complete defense verdict in $60 million lease dispute.
- Trial counsel for publicly traded semi-conductor and components manufacturer in its chapter 11 proceedings, culminating in its successful reorganization and $100 million section 1145 exempt rights offering.
- Trial counsel for City of Glendale, Arizona as the largest creditor and owner of the arena in the chapter 11 proceedings for the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes hockey franchise, resulting in the team staying in Glendale.
- Trial counsel for national energy services company in successful defense of multi-million dollar action arising out of the construction of a co-generation power plant owned by the State of Rhode Island.
- Served as court-appointed attorney to investigate potential claims against former officers and directors of company in highly contested bankruptcy proceedings in federal court.
- Successfully negotiated the resolution of an adversary proceeding alleging violations of state and federal WARN Acts on behalf of putative class.
Honors & Leadership
Honors & Awards
- National Association of Professional Women, Woman of the Year Circle, 2014
- Top Women of Law, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, 2012
- Temple University Athletics Hall of Fame, 2012
- Robert Dushman Public Interest Award, 2011
- Selected for Boston’s Future Leaders Program by Boston Chamber of Commerce, 2006
- Selected as “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers®, 2005
Professional Activities
- International Labor and Employment Conference, Cambridge, UK (2008, 2009, 2011, 2015)
US representative on global panel of labor and employment attorneys. Topics include US employment law basics and emerging issues in US employment law. - MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, MA (2015)
Presenter - MIT Entrepreneurship and Innovation MBA Program, Employment Law Pitfalls - Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Boston, MA
Presenter - Pretrial Preparation? (2012)
Presenter - Countdown to Trial (2013) - Member, American Bar Association
- Member, Boston Bar Association
- Member, Society for Human Resource Management
- Member, National Association of Professional Women
Community Activities
- Currently serve as Trustee, Member of Executive Committee and Chair of Safety Committee, Thompson Island Outward Bound Education Center
- Currently serve on Hingham Congregational Church Board of Education
- Mock Trial Coach, Hingham High School, 2015-2016
- Past President of Brown Rudnick Charitable Foundation
Insights
News
- 12.14.20
- 11.12.20
- 10.5.20
- 10.5.20
- Over 70% of Firm’s Practice Group and Industry Teams Led by Women10.1.20
- 4.20.20
- 3.24.20
- 2.21.20
- 1.7.20
- 10.28.19
- 8.16.19
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- 3.7.19
- 12.28.18
- 10.26.18
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- 7.25.18
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- 1.29.18
- 12.20.17
- 11.15.17
- 1.20.17
- 12.28.16
- 12.12.16
- 12.8.16
- 12.6.16
- Attorneys address employer concerns over pay equity issues12.5.16
- 11.16.16
- 11.16.16
- 11.9.16
Seminars & Speaking Engagements
- Webinar8.22.18
- 5.3.18
- WebinarMultiple Dates
- Webinar3.9.18
- 2.7.18
- Conducting Pay Equity Audits under the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act11.7.17
- 2017 Webinar Series9.12.17
- 4.25.17
- Webinar10.27.16
- State, National and Global Pay Audits: Assessing Risk and Developing a Plan of Action
2018 ILG National Conference, Anaheim, CA
July 31, 2018 - The Current Landscape: The Silence Breakers, Pay Equity & Creating Change
Women in Law and Leadership Summit, Boston, MA
May 16, 2018 - Breaking the Glass Ceiling: The Evolving Pay Equity Landscape
2018 SHRM Talent Conference & Exposition, Las Vegas, NV
April 17, 2018 - Women in Law and Leadership Summit, Boston, MA
(November 16, 2017) Pay Equity in Law - International Labor and Employment Conference, Cambridge, UK (September 2008, December 2009, September 2011, December 2015) US representative on global panel of labor and employment attorneys. Topics include US employment law basics and emerging issues in US employment law
- MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, MA
(November 2015) MIT Entrepreneurship and Innovation MBA Program, Legal Pitfalls for Start-ups, employment law. - Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Boston, MA
(May 2012) Pretrial Preparation?
(July 2013) Countdown to Trial
Articles
- 5.2.20
- 3.15.19
- HR Executive Features Fisher Phillips Attorney’s Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting a Pay Equity Audit2.7.19
- 11.20.17
- 10.11.17
- 9.15.17
Blog Posts
- Pay Equity Matters: Mind the Gap11.14.19
- Pay Equity Matters: Mind the Gap11.11.19
- Pay Equity Matters: Mind the Gap7.8.19
- Pay Equity Matters: Mind the Gap4.4.19
- Pay Equity Matters: Mind the Gap5.14.18
- Pay Equity Matters: Mind the Gap3.5.18
- Pay Equity Matters: Mind the Gap11.1.17
- Pay Equity Matters: Mind the Gap10.17.17
- Pay Equity Matters: Mind the Gap10.5.17
- Gig Employer Blog5.15.17
Legal Alerts
- 1.11.21
- 11.9.20
- 3.23.20
- 3.22.20
- 3.5.19
- Landmark 9th Circuit Ruling Scrapped Because Of Deceased Judge2.25.19
- The Long-Anticipated Document Raises As Many Questions As It Answers3.5.18
- 11.2.17
Practices
Education
- Syracuse University College of LawJ.D.
- Temple UniversityB.A., magna cum laude
Bar Admissions
- Massachusetts
- New Jersey
Court Admissions
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts