Melinda Gordon

Melinda Gordon is a full-time Labor and Employment Arbitrator and Mediator. She has over forty years of experience in labor-management relations in the private and public sectors. She is a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators. Melinda has also conducted numerous investigations regarding various forms of discrimination, including sexual harassment.

Melinda is listed on the following arbitration and mediation rosters: the American Arbitration Association’s Labor, Employment, Worker’s Compensation, Work Place Investigation, Mediation, and Consumer Panels; Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Panel; National Mediation Board; American Health Lawyers Association; FINRA; NYS Teacher Tenure Panel; NYS PERB Arbitration, Mediation, and Fact-Finding Panels; NYC OCB; Port Authority Employment Relations Panel of NY and NJ; NJ State Board of Mediation; NJ PERC; NJ PERC Special Disciplinary Arbitration Panel; Pennsylvania Bureau of Mediation; Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board. She is also on various mediator panels associated with the judiciary.

Melinda is also on the following permanent panels: MLB Players' Association and Office of the Commissioner Salary Arbitration Panel; Writer’s Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers; NewsGuild of New York Arbitration Panel; UPS & Teamsters Joint Area Labor Management Grievance Committee; United Steelworkers Local 9265 and PEF Panel; Columbia University & Student Workers of Columbia; UAW Local 2710; NYS and PEF Disciplinary Arbitration Panel; NYS and PEF Select Panel of Disciplinary Arbitration, NYS and United University Professionals Disciplinary Arbitration Panel. She is also a permanent arbitrator in various industries, including education.

Prior to becoming a full-time arbitrator and mediator in 2013, Melinda was a Senior Counsel at the New York State United Teachers for over twenty years. As Senior Counsel, Melinda litigated labor, employment, and constitutional matters for public and private sector union officers and employees. As a Chief Negotiator of collective bargaining agreements for registered nurses from 1990 to 1993, Melinda gained valuable insight into contract construction and the bargaining process. While at NYSNA, Melinda also advised and represented Registered Nurses on medical and pension benefits, health and safety issues, and other labor and employment matters. As an Assistant Attorney General in the Labor Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s Office in 1990, Melinda investigated and enforced New York State Labor Laws, including unemployment insurance, worker’s compensation, and health and safety violations. Melinda was also involved in civil and criminal prosecutions regarding prevailing wage, minimum wage, and overtime violations. Melinda represented indigent defendants accused of criminal offenses from arraignment through trial at the Legal Aid Society of New York City. As a practicing attorney, Melinda appeared in numerous judicial and administrative forums.

​Melinda is a frequent American Bar Association (“ABA”) author on articles regarding arbitration. She serves as a Chapter Editor for the ABA Midwinter Report on the Fair Labor Standards Act. She also is a contributing author to the ABA Midwinter Report on the Family Medical Leave Act.

As a CUNY Adjunct Associate Professor, Melinda has taught Arbitration, Employment Law, and Labor Relations classes. She graduated from Rutgers College, Rutgers University, in 1983, majoring in history and labor studies. She received her law degree in 1986 from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.