Overview
Melissa Barahona is an experienced litigator focusing on employment and complex commercial litigation. With over a decade of experience, she represents clients in federal and state courts, before administrative agencies and in alternative dispute resolution proceedings.
Melissa advises employers and senior executives on all aspects of employment law. She defends clients against claims of discrimination, retaliation and harassment, as well as wage and hour claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act and state and local laws. Her experience also includes handling whistleblower claims, employment contract and restrictive covenant disputes, and employment-related tort claims such as breach of fiduciary duty, unfair competition and tortious interference.
In addition to litigation, Melissa counsels clients on employment matters, including terminations, disciplinary actions, harassment and misconduct investigations, reductions in force, workplace policies and litigation avoidance strategies.
Beyond her employment practice, Melissa regularly represents clients in high-stakes commercial litigation disputes, including fraud and breach of contract claims. She advises clients across a range of industries, including real estate, private equity, financial services, healthcare, and transportation and supply chain logistics.
Melissa maintains an active pro bono practice, representing clients in immigration and family law matters, including matrimonial and custody cases.
Select examples of Melissa’s prior firm experience include:
- Represented XPO Logistics and GXO Logistics in multiple state and federal court litigations stemming from disputes over warehouse management services contracts, transportation contracts, theft of trade secrets and restrictive covenant agreements.
- Represented a network of skilled nursing and assisted living facilities in employment-related litigations.
- Obtained a $3.8 million jury verdict for a real estate company in a suit against a former manager and a competitor firm involving a wrongful scheme to move a dozen agents to the competitor firm.
- Represented a private equity firm in defense against claims for carried interest and other compensation against a former employee, resulting in a dismissal of all claims after a bench trial.
- Obtained a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction for a large hospital in a lawsuit to enforce a non-competition agreement.
- Represented unsecured creditors in pursuing, on behalf of the litigation trustee, breach of fiduciary duty and loyalty claims against the former officers and directors relating to the alleged siphoning of hundreds of millions of dollars from a failed construction project by the debtor’s former controlling shareholder.
Education
- University of Michigan Law School, J.D., cum laude
- Cornell University, B.S.
Bar Admissions
- New York
- California
Recognition
- Named a “Litigation Star” in Labor & Employment by Benchmark Litigation (2025)
- Named "Best Lawyer" in Labor & Employment Litigation by The Best Lawyers in America (2024 and 2025)
- Named in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in the “Up and Coming” list for New York Labor & Employment (2021-2024)
- Named to the “Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation” list in Employment & Commercial Litigation (2023 and 2024)
- Recognized on Benchmark Litigation’s “40 & Under” list (2023)
- Named to the Lawyer of Color’s “Wonderful Women” list (2023)
- Selected as a Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Fellow (2023)
- Recognized in the “Women Worth Watching in Leadership” list by Profiles in Diversity Journal (2022)