Carolyn Richmond '91 (ILR)

Carolyn Richmond ’91 (ILR) serves as chair of Fox Rothschild’s Hospitality Group and is a former chair of the Labor & Employment Law Department. Based in the firm’s New York office, her practice consists of representing and counseling employers in the hospitality industry on a wide range of labor and employment related matters. In particular, Carolyn has extensive experience litigating wage and hour class actions, restrictive covenants, and employment discrimination cases. She also counsels clients with respect to workplace issues such as the hiring process, diversity and inclusion best practices, anti-harassment training, and employee handbooks. Carolyn also has extensive experience as a crisis management coordinator for restaurants and hotels involved in sexual harassment, diversity, food poisoning and related issues. Many of her matters have been “front page” news at a national level and have also involved coordination with governmental agencies, criminal prosecutions, civil litigation and social media campaigns.

Carolyn is a prolific writer and has written or edited in excess of 100 articles and reports concerning the hospitality industry and workplace issues. She has been acknowledged as a Crain’s New York Rising Star in its annual 40 Under Forty issue. Carolyn is frequently quoted in publications, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Fox News, CBS News, Forbes, and Nation’s Restaurant News. In 2019, Cornell University’s ILR School awarded her the Judge William B. Groat price, the school’s highest honor. Previously, Carolyn served as General Counsel, Business and Legal Affairs to BR Guest Restaurants – JAMES Hotels. At present, Carolyn also serves as chief labor counsel to the New York City Hospitality Alliance. Outside of the workplace Carolyn is involved with a number of educational and charitable organizations. At Cornell, she is also a member of the advisory board of the Center for Innovative Hospitality Labor & Employment Relations; the Dean’s Advisory Board at the ILR School, and is an appointed member of the Cornell University Council. Finally, she is a Legal Advisory Board member of Legal Momentum (previously known as the NOW Legal Defense Fund).