Geoffrey Kalender is an Associate Attorney at Slater Slater Schulman who primarily represents clients bringing employment law claims for discrimination-based civil rights and wage violations. Geoffrey has argued federal and state civil rights claims to jury verdict and has argued on appeal in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. He is as adept at steering complex litigation through collective and class action certification and settlement as he is at guiding mistreated individual clients in retaliation claims against their employer.

Geoffrey is a tenacious advocate who begins every case by taking time to understand the exact contours of his client’s situation, never forcing a case into a preconceived direction. Through empathic listening and responsiveness, Geoffrey empowers his clients to take an active role in their litigation strategy and tailors settlements to reflect a client’s personal concerns. He understands the obstacles employees face and his utmost goal is to secure a fair and meaningful resolution for his clients–financially and otherwise.

Geoffrey is highly experienced with FLSA litigation, as well as the Portal-to-Portal Act, donning and doffing laws, and state wage laws. He has represented large collective and class actions in litigation over worker misclassification including improper exemption and independent contractor status, time clock violations including rounding claims,  tip credits violations, improper tip pools, minimum wage violations, and overtime violations, having litigated actions resulting in settlements of $6.25 million and $4 million dollars, among other six and seven figure awards.

Geoffrey also regularly represents individuals with workplace issues involving discrimination based on sex/gender, disability, race, religion, pregnancy, hostile work environment, age, and retaliation pursuant to Title VII, ADA, FMLA, the New York State Human Rights Law, and the New York City Human Rights Law. He considers the right of workers to be free from discrimination to be a core civil right, of equal importance to any other guarantees made to Americans. Geoffrey almost exclusively represents individuals or classes of individuals with claims against large corporations or other organizations, dedicating his career to fighting for the rights of the workers and consumers of America.

Before becoming an attorney, Geoffrey lived in Israel for four years, working in sustainable agriculture on Kibbutzim. He returned to the United States in 2010 and lived in Kansas City, working as a tax accountant for three years before moving to New York City to attend law school.

Geoffrey graduated with a B.A. in English and a minor in Business from the University of Kansas. He obtained his J.D. with a certificate in Data Law from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Geoffrey is licensed to practice law in New York, Missouri, and Kansas, including the Southern, Eastern, and Northern Districts of New York; the Western District of Missouri; and the District of Kansas.

Prior to joining the Slater Slater Schulman team in October 2022, Geoffrey practiced employment law and consumer bankruptcy in the Kansas City area. Immediately after law school he served as associate counsel for international data control and institutional level cyber-security at a Wall Street financial technology startup that produced a software platform for derivative and fixed-income trading between investment banks, hedge funds, and institutional banks worldwide, but left to follow his true passion of fighting for the rights of individuals. Geoffrey was named a Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2023.

• Employment Law

• Juris Doctor Degree with a certificate in Data Law – Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
• B.A. in English, minor in Business – University of Kansas