Gregory A. Manousos

Overview

Greg Manousos is a litigator and counselor to colleges, universities, medical institutions, academic medical centers, independent schools, businesses, non-profit organizations, and retailers. In-house counsel, human resources professionals, and heads of school look to Greg for experienced, day-to-day employment law advice and for practical and creative ways to maintain compliance with the wide range of employment laws while also achieving institutional and business objectives. He helps clients navigate discrimination and harassment claims, denial of tenure claims, managing employee leaves, wage and hour disputes, litigation involving non-competition agreements, and compliance with diversity, equity and inclusion goals and requirements. Greg also works with colleges, universities, and independent schools in handling sensitive and complex litigation involving students, including cases involving sexual misconduct, other behavioral issues, academic matters, and general negligence claims. A seasoned trial attorney, Greg has tried more than 15 cases to verdict in jury trials, bench trials, arbitrations, and before administrative agencies.

Greg has been part of MB&J for nearly twenty-five years.  He is a member of Morgan, Brown & Joy’s management committee, providing leadership and advising the firm on strategic and operational matters, and he serves as the firm’s General Counsel.  In addition, Greg actively contributes to Boston-based organizations outside of the firm whose missions are rooted in diversity, equity and inclusion. Greg is currently in a leadership role as a member of the executive committee of Hearth, whose mission is to end elder homelessness, and he is the immediate past Board President of BalletRox, a Boston-based organization whose mission is to empower Boston’s youth through dance and arts education.  In both roles, he has worked closely with highly diverse communities across the city.  Greg also serves as a pro bono legal advisor to Embrace Boston, which works at the intersection of arts, culture, community, and research to dismantle structural racism

In his litigation practice, Greg appears regularly before federal and state courts, as well the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD), U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Labor, and numerous other enforcement agencies throughout New England and beyond. As an MCAD-certified trainer, Greg conducts sexual harassment and discrimination prevention training for managers, faculty, and non-supervisory employees. A recognized leader, Greg is a frequent speaker and participant at regional and national conferences hosted by the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA), the Association of Independent Schools in New England (AISNE), and the Massachusetts and Boston Bar Associations.

Prior to joining the firm, Greg served as counsel to the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. He prosecuted numerous discrimination and sexual harassment cases, represented the Commission in Massachusetts’ trial and appellate courts, and counseled the MCAD commissioners and staff on legal and policy matters. He played a key role in drafting MCAD Guidelines on the Massachusetts Maternity Leave Act and the MCAD Guidelines on Disability Discrimination. Greg continues to work closely with state and federal antidiscrimination enforcement agencies, and he has served annually as a faculty member at the MCAD’s harassment and discrimination training program, and at an EEOC-sponsored litigation training seminar for agency lawyers and investigators across New England.

Greg has extensive experience advocating for and defending his clients. A sampling of his recent work includes:

• Successfully arguing before the First Circuit Court of Appeals in a claim of discrimination and retaliation against a university, in which the Court affirmed the lower court’s grant of summary judgment on all counts.
• Obtaining a defense verdict in a complicated jury trial involving claims of discrimination and retaliation by a current employee.
• Successful in getting all of the plaintiff’s claims of discrimination dismissed upon summary judgment in a denial of tenure case at a higher education institution in Boston.
• Obtaining a very successful resolution of a complicated claim involving a faculty member accused of sexual harassment by former students.
• Successfully arguing before the First Circuit Court of Appeals in an age discrimination claim involving a former store manager, obtaining a decision affirming the full dismissal of the case by the Federal District Court.
• Receiving a successful defense verdict after a week-long trial at the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination in a case involving claims of discrimination and retaliation.
• Representing a university in navigating a resolution to a complicated matter involving the sexual assault of a student and a historical pattern of a faculty member grooming students.
• Provided pro bono legal representation on a host of legal matters to the nonprofit organizations on which he serves as a board member or advisor, including BalletRox, which provides underprivileged Boston youth with a chance to dance, Hearth, whose mission involves ending elder homelessness, and Embrace Boston, an arts, culture and advocacy organization whose mission is to dismantle structural racism and promote equity within the city.

Greg represents clients across many fields and industries, including:

• More than two dozen colleges and universities across Massachusetts and throughout New England;
• Major Boston hospitals, academic medical centers, and community-based hospitals and medical institutions;
• Biotechnology and life sciences organizations, including many start-up and well-established companies;
• Independent schools across New England;
• Leading business institutions and technology companies;
• National and regional retailers;
• National and local non-profit organizations involved in health equity, arts, social justice, and consumer protection.