Download vCard 
Area of Emphasis
Sally Griffith Cimini is the chairperson of the Employment and Labor Services Group. She counsels and litigates on behalf of employers in all aspects of the employment relationship, from hiring through termination. She regularly advises clients on employment discrimination issues, workplace harassment, disability accommodation, Family & Medical Leave Act compliance, employee handbooks, human resource policies and practices, wage and hour issues, use of temporary/leased/contract employees, performance appraisals, workplace investigations, drug and alcohol testing, workplace privacy issues, disciplinary action and termination, reductions in force, employment at-will/wrongful discharge, alternative dispute resolution, union avoidance, employment agreements, restrictive covenants and confidentiality agreements, severance agreements, waivers and releases, and unemployment compensation claims.
Ms. Cimini routinely represents employers in employment discrimination litigation before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, Ohio Civil Rights Commission, and City of Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations, as well as in state and federal court proceedings. Ms. Cimini also represents employers in all aspects of labor relations, including grievances, arbitration and National Labor Relations Board proceedings
Ms. Cimini is also active in the field of alternative dispute resolution, both as an employment dispute mediator and arbitrator. She regularly serves as a mediator and early neutral evaluator for the Alternative Dispute Resolution program and has been a certified adjunct settlement judge for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Ms. Cimini is a mediator and arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association (AAA), and also serves as a private mediator. She has also mediated cases at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She is a panel mediator on the UPMC Intermediation Panel and serves on the Marsh CHART Mediation Panel.
Background
Ms. Cimini’s career has focused on employment and labor matters prior to, while attending, and since graduating from law school. She received her undergraduate degree in 1979 from Duquesne University with a double major in Speech Communication & Theatre and Journalism/Public Relations, and in 1982 earned a certificate in Personnel & Industrial Relations from the University of Pittsburgh. While attending college, she interned in the personnel department of a major banking institution in Pittsburgh.
She put herself through Duquesne University School of Law while working at Union Switch and Signal as a personnel specialist, and then as a law clerk for the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. She graduated from law school in 1986. Prior to joining Babst, Calland, Clements and Zomnir, P.C., Ms. Cimini practiced employment and labor law in both private practice and as in-house as employment counsel for a major electric utility in Pittsburgh.
Ms. Cimini also has extensive education and experience in alternative dispute resolution. She received her mediation training at Harvard Law School. She has completed advanced individual training in both traditional and transformative mediation from numerous trainers including nationally-recognized mediators Linda Singer and Michael Lewis. Ms. Cimini also has completed both the AAA Employment Arbitration I & II training programs.
Memberships and Affiliations
Ms. Cimini is admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. She has represented clients in litigation before state and federal district courts located in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana and New York. She also has litigated cases in the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Fourth and Sixth Circuits. Ms. Cimini is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Ms. Cimini belongs to the labor and employment law sections of the Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Ohio and American Bar Associations. She is also active with the Allegheny County Bar Association’s Project Challenge (for which she is an unemployment compensation mentor). Ms. Cimini is a member of and previously served as Membership Chairperson, Newsletter Editor and a member of the Board of Directors of the Pittsburgh Personnel Association (now Pittsburgh Human Resources Association). She is the immediate past President, founding member, Program Chair and Legislative Liaison of Tri-State Society for Human Resources Management. She is also an instructor for the Pittsburgh Human Resource Association’s preparation course for the HRCI SPHR/PHR exam. Ms. Cimini is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) by the Human Resources Certification Institute. She has served as a human resources advisor and trainer for Powerlink, an organization that provides advice to growing women-owned businesses. Ms. Cimini for many years has served on the faculty of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s Employment Law Institute, where she is a regular speaker on employment law issues. She is also a frequent lecturer in business, academic, and legal communities on employment and labor law matters, as well as human resource issues. She is also on the Legal Committee of the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force.
Ms. Cimini is a member of the Pennsylvania Council of Mediators and the Mediation Council of Western Pennsylvania (Board Member, Program Chair). She is a member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committees of the Allegheny County, Pennsylvania (Section Chair) and American Bar Associations. She is a course planner and presenter for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s annual ADR Institute. Ms. Cimini is a member of the Association for Conflict Resolution.
She has been consistently recognized as one of Pennsylvania’s top lawyers, and has been listed as one of Pennsylvania’s top 50 female lawyers and Pittsburgh’s top 50 lawyers since 2009, according to an annual survey published in Philadelphia magazine. Ms. Cimini is listed in the Labor and Employment Law Section of The Best Lawyers in America® 2010.
Publications/Presentations
- Cimini, Sally Griffith, “Employee Discharge and Documentation," Lorman Educational Services, May 2008.
- Cimini, Sally Griffith, “Employee Handbooks: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly," Tri-State Society for Human Resources Management, April 2008.
- Cimini, Sally Griffith, “Effective Mediation Advocacy," Pennsylvania Bar Institute, 4th Annual ADR Institute, March 2008, PBI No. 2008.
- Cimini, Sally Griffith, “Top Ten Mistakes Made by New Mediators," U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Federal Court ADR Mediator Training Program, February 2007.
- Cimini, Sally Griffith, “Getting Paid in Pennsylvania: Basic Wage & Hour Law," Pennsylvania Bar Institute, January 2008, PBI No. 2007-4987.
- Cimini, Sally Griffith, “Problem Employee Absenteeism," Tri-State Society for Human Resource Management and Fayette County Chamber of Commerce, January 2008.
- Cimini, Sally Griffith, “Legal Issues in Hiring," Mon Valley CareerLink, January 2008.
- Cimini, Sally Griffith, “Employment Law A-to-Z," Lorman Education Services, January 2008.
- Cimini, Sally Griffith, “Effective Mediation Advocacy," Pennsylvania Bar Institute, December 2007.
(Complete list of publications available upon request)
|
