Beldock Levine & Hoffman LLP, Attorneys at Law
Cynthia Rollings
Cynthia Rollings became a partner of the firm in 1982. Her area of practice is civil litigation with a focus on employment, civil rights and entertainment and art litigation. She has successfully litigated cases ranging from constitutional and employment actions on behalf of individuals and as class counsel to cases involving major New York cultural institutions and political figures. She has particular expertise representing physicians and university faculty members in professional disputes with academic and health care institutions. She practices in both federal and state courts, at both trial and appellate levels, appears before administrative tribunals and is experienced in alternative dispute resolution, both as a party representative and as a neutral.
Practice Areas
Employment Law, Civil Rights, Art Law
Education
Wellesley College and Barnard College (A.B. 1970)
New York University (J.D. 1973), Order of the Coif
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health (M.P.H. 2003)
Bar Admissions
Admitted to bar, 1974, New York; 1974, U.S. District Court, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York; 1975, U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.
Professional Activities
Member: The Association of the Bar of the City of New York (Member, Committee on Women in the Courts, 1987-1990; Committee on Social Welfare Law, 1997-2000; Committee on Bioethical Issues, 2003-2006)
Member: National Employment Lawyers Association
Member: AAA Commercial and Employment Arbitrator Panels
Member: American Health Lawyers Association ADR Panel
Member: CPR Employment Panel
ISLP Volunteer Attorney: Kosovo, Nigeria, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
Recent Publications
"Patient Care, Peer Review and the First Amendment," New York Law Journal, March 10, 2006
Representative Cases
Wright v Stern, 01-CV-4437 (S.D.N.Y.), 553 F.Supp.2d 337 (S.D.N.Y. 2008) and 450 F.Supp.2d 335 (S.D.N.Y. 2006) (NYC agrees to pay $21 million to settle employment discrimination class action on behalf of African American and Hispanic employees of the NYC Parks Department).
Almontaser v NYC Dept. of Education, 07-CV-5468 (S.D.N.Y.), 519 F.3d 505 (2d Cir. 2008) and 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84696 (S.D.N.Y. 2009) (First Amendment and discrimination claims by Arab American school principal).
Krukenkamp v SUNY, 04-CV-0569 (E.D.N.Y.)(preliminary injunction granted to Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at State University of New York at Stony Brook raising First Amendment retaliation claims).
Metropolitan Opera Ass'n Inc v Figaro Systems, Inc, 794 N.Y.Supp.2d 611 (N.Y. Co. 2005)(First Amendment challenge to General Business Law on behalf of inventors of opera house title system).
Matter of Paula R. v Goldstein, Index No. 100388/02 (N.Y.Co. 2002)(challenge by CUNY students and faculty challenging Trustees vote to dismantle open enrollment).
Bordan v North Shore University Hospital, 712 N.Y. S. 2d 155 (2d Dept. 2000)(dismissal of hospital physician's whistleblower claim alleging retaliatory personnel action after raising quality of care concerns held premature prior to disclosure of information concerning patients at issue).
Green v Guiliani, 721 N.Y.S. 2d 461 (N.Y.Co. 2000)(challenge by New York City Public Advocate to Mayor Giuliani's disclosure of sealed information relating to man shot by police).
Shady v Tyson, 5 F.Supp.2d 102 (E.D.N.Y. 1998)(Due Process and First Amendment challenge to nonrenewal of faculty appointment).
Visual Equities, Inc. v Sotheby's, 199 A.D.2d 59, 604 N.Y.S. 117 (1st Dept. 1993)(reducing undertaking for restraining order preventing Sotheby's from delivering original print of Declaration of Independence after auction).
