Christine Malafi is a partner at Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP. Malafi also chairs the firm’s corporate department, one of the most robust teams in the New York region. Malafi’s practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, routine and complex transactions, labor and employment issues (including sexual harassment prevention policies and training), and other business matters, as well as municipal, insurance coverage, and fraud issues. She routinely represents buyers and sellers in multi-million dollar transactions and serves in a general counsel role for many of the firm’s internationally-based clients.
Employers establish a clear social media policy, Malafi said.
“Social media is ubiquitous, with everyone from your grandmother to your second-grade teacher logging on,” she said. “Therefore, it’s no surprise that social media has found its way into the workplace, posing unique challenges to employers.”
“Handling social media is a balancing act for employers,” she said. “Employee posts may impact an employer’s reputation and the employee’s performance and productivity; at the same time, however, employers must take care not to run afoul of state and federal laws that generally protect work-related conversations among employees on social media, protect employees’ right to privacy, prohibit termination based on recreational activities outside the office (such as blogging or posting), and prohibit discrimination against employees based on disabilities or other information they reveal online.”
Employers must take a necessary first step, Malafi noted. “Employers are advised to be proactive by establishing a social media policy clearly stating the employer’s stance on the use of social media on company systems, prohibiting employees from disclosing confidential information about the business on social media, and prohibiting the use of social media to harass colleagues, among other things. As with all workplace policies, training of employees is also critical.”
“In today’s political climate, the challenges that social media poses for employers will only increase,” Malafi said. “Employers who understand the landscape will be ahead of the game.”
Prior to joining the firm, Malafi served as Suffolk County Attorney, the first woman and youngest person ever to serve in that position. She served as the chief legal officer of the county for eight years, where she focused on obtaining jury verdicts in favor of the county, making fewer settlements, enforcing anti-discrimination laws, and protecting children from harm.
Malafi earned a juris doctor, magna cum laude, from Touro College, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center and a bachelor’s degree from Dowling College.
She is admitted to practice in New York, Connecticut and before the United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit; United States District Court, Southern District of New York; and United States District Court, Eastern District of New York.
Malafi earned a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Rating. Among her many recognitions, she was listed in Best Lawyers in America for Employment Law/Management in 2018 and 2017; and as a 2016 Top Outstanding Women in Law by Hofstra University School of Law’s Center for Children, Families and the Law.
Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP (CMM) is a premier law firm with offices in Ronkonkoma and Bridgehampton. CMM does not seek to be the largest law firm as measured by number of lawyers or offices. Instead, the firm strives to be the firm of choice for clients with respect to their most challenging legal issues, most significant business transactions, and most critical disputes. CMM attorneys serve as their clients’ strategic partners, advising them on everything from day-to-day business decisions to their plans for worldwide expansion.