Spikes in large-scale layoffs and anxiety over AI-driven job losses have put renewed focus on the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. Recent months have seen unusually high levels of WARN notices nationwide, with more than 39,000 workers receiving WARN notifications in October 2025 alone and even higher totals earlier in the year.
Noa Baddish
Noa M. Baddish is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department. She is a member of the Sports, Employment Litigation & Arbitration, Class and Collective Action, Wage & Hour and Whistleblower & Retaliation Practice Groups. Noa is also the Administrative Lead of the Class, Collective and Complex Action Practice Group.
Noa specializes in defending employers in various industries, such as sports, media and entertainment, on a wide variety of matters. With a particular focus on class and collective actions, Noa has successfully defended numerous organizations against complex employment-related claims. Noa’s approach to class and collective action defense is rooted in a thorough understanding of both federal and state employment laws. Noa’s expertise spans topics ranging from wage and hour disputes to discrimination and harassment claims. Noa is well-versed in the intricacies of class and collective action procedures, which allows her to provide comprehensive defense strategies tailored to each client’s objectives and circumstances.
Noa also has experience navigating proceedings before government agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), including Commissioner Charges and those involving complex, large-scale issues such as claims of pattern or practice discrimination.
Noa also works closely with clients to develop proactive compliance strategies, focused on minimizing the risk of litigation. Noa has particular expertise in advising clients on how to conduct reorganizations or restructuring of businesses, otherwise known as “RIFs” and is experienced in all of the technicalities that come along with these types of group-wide employment actions.
Noa was recognized as a Rising Star by New York Super Lawyers from 2015 through 2020. She has authored and contributed to several articles and newsletters on employment and labor topics, including “Managing Legal and Reputational Risks When Right-sizing Your Workforce,” LegalDive (December 2022), “Mediating Employment Disputes,” LexisNexis (June 2019), “Supreme Court Says that Equitable Tolling Cannot Extend Rule 23(f) Deadline,” Proskauer’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Blog (February 2019), “FLSA Turns 80: The Evolution of ‘Employee’ Status,” LAW360 (June 2018), and “CFTC Whistleblower Awards On The Horizon,” Proskauer’s Corporate Defense and Disputes Blog (May 2015).
Prior to coming to Proskauer, Noa served as Assistant General Counsel to the New York City Mayor’s Office of Labor Relations and defended the Mayor and City agencies against both employee grievances at arbitration and improper practice petitions before the Board of Collective Bargaining. Prior to that, she was a Law Clerk to Judge Ellen L. Koblitz of the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court.
While in law school, Noa served on the Executive Board as Notes and Articles Editor of the Fordham Urban Law Journal.
New Jersey Employers be Warned: Changes to New Jersey WARN Likely on the Horizon
***UPDATE: On January 10, 2023, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed into law the bill severing the effective date of the NJ WARN Act amendments from EO 103. The NJ WARN Act Amendments will go into effect on April 10, 2023 (ninety days after the Governor signed the Bill).***
Almost three years ago – in…
New Jersey Excludes COVID-19 Layoffs from State WARN Law and Delays Effective Date of Pending Amendments
On April 14, 2020, Governor Phil Murphy signed into law two amendments to the New Jersey WARN Act (the “NJ WARN Act” or the “Act”) that alleviate some of the burdens the Act and certain pending amendments placed on New Jersey employers during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
COVID-19 Mass Layoffs Excluded: Unlike the…
U. S. Supreme Court Holds that Third-Party Defendants to Counterclaims Cannot Remove Class Actions to Federal Court
In a 5-4 decision in Home Depot U.S.A. Inc., v. Jackson, 587 U.S. __ (2019), the United States Supreme Court held that a third-party counterclaim defendant does not qualify as a “defendant” under the general removal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a) or under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (“CAFA”) and therefore cannot…