Profile

Kerry is a labor and employment law attorney who represents private and public sector employers in all aspects of labor and employment relations. She works closely with management and provides counsel on a variety of labor and employment-related matters, such as managing leaves of absence, compliance with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), compliance with federal and state wage and hour laws, workplace investigations, reductions-in-force, plant closings, policy development and review, employment agreements, separation agreements, labor arbitration, unfair labor practice charges and collective bargaining negotiations.

Kerry’s practice also includes representing employers in federal and state employment litigation. She regularly defends employers against claims brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the New York State Human Rights Law. Kerry also defends employers in administrative proceedings before the New York State Division of Human Rights, the New York State Department of Labor, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the National Labor Relations Board. In addition, she represents employers with respect to their participation in multi-employer benefit plans, including delinquent contribution actions and withdrawal liability disputes.

Kerry has spoken to various personnel and management groups and has conducted in-house training on a variety of labor and employment topics, such as leave of absence issues, discrimination and harassment avoidance and workplace investigations. She has also authored several articles on labor and employment law developments for the Syracuse Law Review’s annual survey of New York law.

  • Listed in:
    • New York Super Lawyers 2018®, Upstate New York Rising Star, Employment and Labor
    • 40 under Forty, CNY Business Journal News Network, 2018
  • New York State Bar Association
  • Onondaga County Bar Association
  • Central New York Women’s Bar Association
  • Justinian Honorary Law Society
  • Executive Editor, Syracuse Law Review
  • Editor-in-Chief, The Labor Lawyer

  • Solving the Management Leave Puzzle, CNY SHRM, June 18, 2020
  • Hot Topics in LTC for Nursing Facilities, New York Association of Longterm Care Administrators Conference, October 18, 2019
  • Mental Illness: What You Need to Know in the Workplace, CNY SHRM, March 16, 2017
  • Employee Handbooks - Choose Your Words Wisely, MACNY HR Breakfast Briefing, December 15, 2015
  • Employment Law Basics for Supervisors, Managers & Business Owners - Part Two, Central New York Society for Human Resource Management (CNY SHRM), March 19, 2015

  • Langan, Kerry W. and Schafer, Katherine Ritts, "Survey of New York Law: Labor and Employment Law," 63 Syracuse L. Rev. 829, 2013
  • Langan, Kerry W. and Schafer, Katherine Ritts, "Survey of New York Law: Labor and Employment Law," 62 Syracuse L. Rev. 709, 2012
  • Langan, Kerry W. and Ritts, Katherine A., "Survey of New York Law: Labor and Employment Law," 61 Syracuse L. Rev. 831, 2011