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One Post Office Square
Boston, MA 02109

TEL: (617) 338-2928

Ilene Robinson Sunshine

Partner

Ilene Robinson Sunshine has practiced labor and employment law in Massachusetts for more than twenty-five years. She is the co-leader of the Employment & Benefits Group of Sullivan & Worcester LLP, where she represents and counsels employers in a broad range of employment-related matters including employment discrimination, sexual harassment, employee discipline and discharge, handbooks and policy development, drafts executive contracts, and conducts training for managers and employees. She also litigates non-competition cases and all other types of employment-related cases in state and federal courts. Ms. Sunshine is a certified civil mediator in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Ms. Sunshine has counseled clients on privacy and data security-related employment matters such as workplace monitoring and searches, medical records, data protection, technology (e-mail, computers, telephones) and social media. She also drafts and litigates disputes arising under confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements.

Ms. Sunshine previously was of counsel to the office of Hinckley, Allen, Snyder & Comen and served for six years as labor counsel to the Chief Administrative Justice of the Massachusetts Trial Court. She also has served as a hearing officer for the Boston Retirement Board and as a labor arbitrator for the United States Postal Service and the American Postal Workers Union.

Bar & Court Admissions

  • Massachusetts, 1979
  • U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

Publications

  • Feds Protecting Online Criticism of Workplaces, Boston Business Journal, Quoted (June 17, 2011)
  • "Market savvy: Women lawyers hone rainmaking skills," Boston Business Journal (quoted) (July 25-August 4, 2005)
  • "Easing employee stress before fractures appear," Financial Times (January 2004)
  • "Employers can sidestep many pains and perils of downsizing," Boston Business Journal (December 14-20, 2001)
  • "Sexual Harassment: mysterious after all these years," Women’s Business (February 2001)
  • Co-editor, “A Judicial Guide to Labor and Employment Law,” Lawyers Weekly Publication (1990)

Client Advisories

Teaching & Speaking Engagements

  • Speaker, "Part II: Cross-Border Employment Law Matters: Employment Terminations and Related Issues at the End of the Employment Relationship," Sullivan & Worcester LLP, New York (January 20, 2011)
  • Speaker, "Cross-Border Employment Law Matters: Protecting Your Client from Liability," Sullivan & Worcester LLP, New York (September 2010)
  • Panelist, "Contract, Tort and Legislative Update 2008," Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education Annual Employment Law Conference, 2008
  • Moderator and Speaker, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education Annual Employment Law Conference, 2000-2005
  • Chair and Speaker, Massachusetts Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Annual Spring Conference, 1987-1999
  • Faculty, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, 1988 to present (Civil Motion Practice, Sexual Harassment, Employment Law Basics, 60-Minute Lawyer, Top Ten Mistakes Employment Lawyers Make)
  • Lecturer, Council on Education in Management, 1987 to 2000; National Business Institute, 1990-2003; CLE International, 1997; Lorman Institute, 1999-2000; Suffolk University Advanced Legal Studies, 1996; Boston Bar Association, 1988; American Arbitration Association, 1988
  • Instructor, Lesley College Graduate School, Management Division, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1988-1989

Awards & Honors

  • Massachusetts Super Lawyers (2004-2011)
  • Top 50 Female Massachusetts Super Lawyers (2005-2010)
  • Top 100 Super Lawyers in Massachusetts (2007-2010)
  • Best Lawyers in America (2006-2012)
  • Chambers USA, Leading Lawyer in Labor & Employment (2004-2011)
  • Fellow, College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, elected 2001
  • AV Rated, Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory

Professional & Civic Activities

  • International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP)
  • Board of Directors, Greater Boston Legal Services, 2004-2010
  • Trustee, Boston Children's Museum, 2007-2009
  • Co-Chair, Labor and Employment Law Section, Boston Bar Association, 2004-2006
  • Board of Directors and Treasurer, The Lionheart Foundation, 1992-1999
  • Board of Delegates, Massachusetts Bar Association, 1992-1995
  • Chair, Fee Arbitration Board (1993-1994); Arbitrator (1988-1994), Massachusetts Bar Association
  • Chair, Labor and Employment Law Section, Massachusetts Bar Association, 1989-1990
  • Women’s Bar Association, 1995- Present
  • Member by appointment of the Supreme Judicial Court, Commission to Study Racial and Ethnic Bias in the Courts, 1990-1994
  • Member by appointment of the Supreme Judicial Court, Gender Bias Study Committee, 1987-1989
  • Fellow, Massachusetts Bar Foundation, elected 1986

Education

  • J.D., cum laude, New England School of Law, 1979
  • B.A., University of Wisconsin, 1976
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