About

Matthew L. Berman

I am a plaintiff-side employment, class action and civil rights lawyer in Garden City, New York. I represent workers and other individuals, never employers, and I sue institutions over practices that harm many people at once. Often the institution is New York City or New York State. I have litigated class actions for more than two decades, for clients from all five boroughs of New York City and from Long Island.

The work

S.D.N.Y. · 2 F.4th 82 (2d Cir. 2021)

Dorce v. City of New York

In 2018 Yolande I. Nicholson brought me a pattern she had found in the City's Third Party Transfer program: the City took title to homes over municipal debt and kept the owners' equity. We filed in March 2019. In 2021 the Second Circuit reversed the dismissal and reinstated the takings, due process and equal protection claims. When the petitioners in Tyler v. Hennepin County asked the Supreme Court to decide whether keeping surplus equity is a taking, they cited a 2022 Dorce ruling; the Court answered yes, unanimously, in 2023. In September 2026 the City agreed to a proposed $60 million settlement for the Round 10 class, which the court preliminarily approved on October 21, 2026. A final approval hearing is set for May 5, 2027. Claims for more than 500 other properties remain in litigation. Co-counsel include Ropes & Gray and White & Case.

S.D.N.Y.

Chalmers v. City of New York

A race-based pay class action for FDNY Fire Protection Inspectors, compared with the City's building inspectors. Valli Kane & Vagnini and Mehri & Skalet were appointed co-class counsel. The case settled for $29.9 million, including pay-adjustment awards.

S.D.N.Y.

Parking Production Assistant cases

Overtime actions under the FLSA and New York Labor Law against major studios and networks, including Hines v. CBS, Leach v. NBC Universal and Morgan v. Warner Bros. James A. Vagnini originated the cases; I was the lead attorney prosecuting them. Documented settlements exceed $28 million.

N.Y. Court of Claims · App. Div., 1st Dept · S.D.N.Y.

CUNY security officers v. State of New York

With co-counsel Mehri & Skalet PLLC, FLSA overtime claims in the Court of Claims for CUNY security officers, which the Appellate Division, First Department reinstated in 2026, and a Title VII class action in federal court over race-based pay.

E.D.N.Y.

Charles v. City of New York

Disability-rights claims by twelve New Yorkers over the City's Open Streets program. The court denied the City's motion to dismiss in 2026.

In court

Argued two appeals in the Appellate Division, Second Department in 2024 and won both: 374-76 Prospect Place Tenants Ass’n v. City of New York and Okeke v. Interfaith Medical Center.
Argued the opposition to the City’s motion to dismiss in Charles v. City of New York (E.D.N.Y.), the Open Streets disability-rights case; the court denied the motion in 2026.
As first chair, tried a jury case in Nassau County Supreme Court in 2022, from opening statements through the first day of trial; it settled before verdict.
As first chair, led a traverse hearing for a homeowner challenging service of process in a Kings County foreclosure (2022).
At Hiller PC, second-chaired a commercial bench trial in New York County Supreme Court for the defense; the court directed a verdict dismissing all claims with prejudice.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Background

For more than twenty years, I have represented employees, never employers. I began my career at Jackson Lewis, a management-side employment firm, from 1999 to 2002, and later spent ten years at Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann, a national plaintiffs' class-action firm, working on securities, consumer and employment class actions, including In re UnitedHealth Shareholders Derivative Litigation, In re Merck & Co. Securities Litigation, In re Pfizer Shareholder Derivative Litigation, and ECOA auto-finance class actions for African-American borrowers. Before joining Valli Kane & Vagnini in 2015, I practiced at Hiller PC, a Madison Avenue trial boutique.

Position: Partner, Valli Kane & Vagnini LLP, Garden City, New York
Practice: Employment law for employees (wage and hour, commissions and bonuses, severance, discrimination, harassment and retaliation); class actions; civil rights; tenants and homeowners
Admissions: New York (2002); U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York
Recognition: Selected to Super Lawyers, Employment Litigation: Plaintiff, 2024, 2025 and 2026
Memberships: Member, National Employment Lawyers Association and NELA/NY
Education: Fordham University School of Law, J.D. 1999 (Notes & Articles Editor, Fordham Environmental Law Review); Bucknell University, B.A. Economics 1994

Recognition and memberships

Rated by Super Lawyers

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Selected to Super Lawyers, Employment Litigation: Plaintiff, 2024, 2025 and 2026. Member, National Employment Lawyers Association and NELA/NY. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Working with me

I prefer not to bill by the hour. I work on a flat fee or contingency fee basis, set out in a written retainer agreement, and if you may have a claim I could take on, the first consultation is free. Fees and consultations.

If you are a lawyer with a case about a practice that harms many people, I am glad to talk about co-counsel. I have litigated class and group cases for more than two decades. Referrals and co-counsel.

Writing

I write this site’s legal rights knowledge base: plain-language guides to New York employment law for working people, with the full text of the cases they cite. My articles and other published pieces are collected under Writing, including my Law360 Expert Analysis article, NY Severance Rules Persist Despite McLaren Macomb Threat (October 13, 2026).