NEW YORK, September 14, 2022 ― New York attorney John Ho, co-chair of Cozen O’Connor’s OSHA-Workplace Safety Practice, was appointed Management Vice-Chair of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) in the Legal Profession Committee of the American Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Section. His one-year term is effective immediately.
In his new leadership role, Ho will assist the committee’s mission to lead the section’s efforts to recruit and retain lawyers of color, women lawyers, lawyers with disabilities, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender lawyers, young lawyers, and law students for active involvement in the work and leadership of the section.
Ho previously served in various leadership roles within the ABA’s Labor and Employment Law Section, including vice-chair of the Management Engagement Committee, co-editor of the Electronic Newsletter Committee, and is an alumni of the section’s Leadership and Development Program.
Ho, who practices out of Cozen O’Connor’s New York office, exclusively represents employers on all labor and employment matters and regularly handles wage and hour matters involving federal and state laws. Included in his representation are the Fair Labor Standards Act, the New York Labor Law, New York’s Miscellaneous Industries Wage Order, and New York’s Hospitality Wage Order which includes numerous cases involving New York’s Wage Theft Prevention Act, tip credit and pooling, deduction from wages and regular rate issues. Ho has defended a wide range of employers against hybrid Rule 23 class and collective actions under the FLSA and the New York Labor Law with exemption misclassification and off-the-clock claims.
He also routinely works with the Occupational Safety and Health Act where he has significant experience with fatality inspections, in addition to handling discrimination and retaliation claims, ADA public accommodation cases, drafting employee handbook policies and executive employment contracts, non-competes, and conducting workplace harassment and discrimination investigations.
Ho is a founding member of the Wage and Hour Defense Institute, and frequently lectures on FLSA, OSHA, and Labor Department audits. He writes extensively and frequently comments on labor and employment law issues in national business and legal publications. In addition, Ho is a frequent panelist and contributor on OSHA and Wage and Hour issues for multiple bar associations and trade associations and serves as the author of Cozen O’Connor’s workplace safety and health blog The OSHA Chronicle.
He is the former co-chair of the Asian American Bar Association of New York’s Labor and Employment Committee and was a longtime board member of the Connecticut Asian Pacific American Bar Association. Ho currently serves as the co-chair of the Governance Committee of the Empire Justice Center.
Ho received his undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut, (B.A, 1992) and his law degree from St. John’s University School of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1997).
About the DEI in the Legal Profession Committee of the ABA L&E Law Section
The ABA’s Labor and Employment Law Section is one of the Association’s largest and most active sections. Representing all perspectives of labor and employment law: management, union, plaintiff, neutral and public, the Section is committed to a balanced discussion of employment issues throughout the world. The Section’s DEI in the Legal Profession Committee strives to eliminate bias and enhance diversity throughout the ABA’s Labor and Employment Section, the legal profession and justice system.
About Cozen O’Connor
Established in 1970, Cozen O’Connor has more than 825 attorneys who help clients manage risk and make better business decisions. The firm counsels clients on their most sophisticated legal matters in all areas of the law, including litigation, corporate and regulatory law. Representing a broad array of leading global corporations and middle market companies, Cozen O’Connor serves its clients’ needs through 32 offices across two continents.