Irene A. Zoupaniotis

Irene Zoupaniotis is a labor and employment attorney representing businesses and organizations across various industries.  As both a litigator and proactive counselor, Irene is an important resource to management teams for day-to-day employment issues, offering strategic advice and litigation defense.

As a litigator, Irene manages all aspects of employment litigation, arbitration and mediation.  Irene defends wage and hour actions, as well as discrimination, harassment, and retaliation cases.  She also counsels clients during government audits and investigations.

Additionally, Irene provides counsel on a wide range of employment issues, including wage and hour compliance, reductions in force, and restrictive covenants.  She regularly prepares employee handbooks and personnel policies, negotiates and drafts separation agreements, conducts workplace training for both management and employees on legal compliance issues and conducts independent investigations to mitigate risk and address client concerns.  Irene takes a practical, collaborative approach when working with clients, which allows them to reach their goals, mitigate risk and ensure legal compliance.

Prior to joining Farrell Fritz, Irene was a litigation associate at a New York City law firm. Irene is fluent in Greek.

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Experience

• Advises businesses and organizations on day-to-day employment issues spanning the full employment lifecycle.
• Collaborates closely with management teams to develop tailored legal solutions that align with business objectives.
• Advises businesses across all hiring needs including background checks, offer letters, employment contracts, and executive compensation.
• Advises businesses on managing employee relations issues, including disciplinary actions, accommodations, and leaves of absence.
• Counsels businesses in individual employee terminations as well as with reductions of force and other group employment terminations.
• Conducts investigations into allegations of misconduct or violations of company policies.
• Crafts and conducts customized employment trainings for management teams and employees on relevant legal issues, including harassment prevention.
• Drafts and reviews employment contracts, including non-compete agreements, confidentiality agreements, and severance packages.
• Represents clients in employment litigation involving all areas of employment law.
• Part of the legal team who achieved a significant financial recovery from a disloyal employee on behalf of a property management company following a bench trial.
• Successfully represents employers in administrative proceedings before state and local agencies such as the New York State Division of Human Rights and the Suffolk County Commission on Human Rights.
• Conducts successful motion practice across all areas of discrimination law as well as wage and hour matters.

Community Work

• Queens Theatre, Board of Directors
• LIC Partnership, Board of Directors

Recognition

• Best Lawyers, Ones to Watch, 2024