Anthony J. Oncidi

Tony J. Oncidi is the co-chair of the Labor & Employment Law Department and heads the West Coast Labor & Employment group in Proskauer’s Los Angeles office. He represents employers and management in all aspects of labor relations and employment law, including litigation and preventive counseling; wage and hour matters, including class actions, wrongful termination, employee discipline, Title VII, and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act; executive employment contract disputes; sexual harassment training and investigations; workplace violence; drug testing and privacy issues; Sarbanes-Oxley claims; and employee raiding and trade secret protection. A substantial portion of Mr. Oncidi’s practice involves the defense of employers in large class actions, employment discrimination, harassment, and wrongful termination litigation in state and federal court, as well as arbitration proceedings, including FINRA matters.

"Educational Experience • J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School • BA, cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Pomona Colleg"

Mr. Oncidi is recognized as a leading lawyer by such highly respected publications and organizations as the Los Angeles Daily Journal, The Hollywood Reporter, and Chambers USA, which gives him the highest possible rating, “Band 1,” for Labor & Employment. According to Chambers USA, clients say he is "brilliant at what he does… He is even keeled, has a high emotional IQ, is a great legal writer and orator, and never gives up." Other clients report: “Tony has an outstanding reputation” and Mr. Oncidi is “smart, cost effective and appropriately aggressive.” He is hailed as "outstanding,” particularly for his “ability to merge top-shelf lawyerly advice with pragmatic business acumen.” Mr. Oncidi is highly respected in the industry, with other commentators lauding him as a "phenomenal strategist" and "one of the top employment litigators in the country. Mr. Oncidi is the author of the treatise titled “Employment Discrimination Depositions,” (Juris Pub’g 2020), and co-author of “Proskauer on Privacy,” (PLI 2023). Since 1990, he has been a regular columnist for the official publication of the Labor and Employment Law Section of the State Bar of California and the Los Angeles Daily Journal. Mr. Oncidi is an appointed hearing examiner for the Los Angeles Police Commission Board of Rights. He has served as an adjunct professor of law and a guest lecturer at University of Southern California Law School and University of California, Los Angeles Law School. Mr. Oncidi has been a featured guest on Fox 11 News and CBS News in Los Angeles. He has been interviewed and quoted by leading national media outlets, such as The National Law Journal, Bloomberg News, The New York Times, Newsweek, and Time magazines. Mr. Oncidi is a frequent speaker on employment law topics for large and small groups of employers and their counsel, including the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM); PIHRA; the National CLE Conference; National Business Institute; the Employment Round Table of Southern California, in which he is a board member; the Council on Education in Management; the Institute for Corporate Counsel; the State Bar of California, CEB programs, and the Los Angeles and Beverly Hills Bar Associations. He has testified as an expert witness regarding wage and hour issues, as well as the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. Mr. Oncidi has served as a faculty member of the National Employment Law Institute. He has also served as an arbitrator in an employment discrimination matter."