FEATURE

Caryn Markowitz Groedel

Location: Cleveland, Ohio

Fax: 440-996-0064

Caryn Markowitz Groedel earned a Bachelor of Arts from George Washington University and a Juris Doctor from George Mason University. She is a certified specialist in employment and labor law.

Her professional recognition includes being named among Cleveland’s Top 50 Lawyers and Top 25 Women Lawyers by Cleveland Magazine in 2009. Ohio Super Lawyers recognized her from 2006 through 2020, and Corporate Counsel magazine named her among Ohio’s top employment lawyers in February 2008.

Her reported accomplishments include verdicts of $2.1 million in a gender, pregnancy discrimination, and sexual-harassment case; $1.3 million in an age-discrimination and retaliation case; $800,000 in a reverse sexual-harassment case; and $42.8 million against Nationwide on behalf of a former insurance agent.

Groedel is a founding member of the Cleveland Employment Lawyers Inn of Court and a longtime member of the National Employment Lawyers Association, Ohio Employment Lawyers Association, and Cleveland Employment Lawyers Association. She has appeared in local and national media and frequently speaks about employment-related issues.

Certified Legal Specialty

Employment and labor law

Bar Admissions

Ohio
Pennsylvania
District of Columbia
Maryland
Washington

Education

George Mason University School of Law, Arlington, Virginia — Juris Doctor
George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia — Bachelor of Arts

Honors and Awards

Selected by peers for inclusion in Cleveland’s Best Lawyers in labor and employment law, 2012–2016
Named a Super Lawyer in employment law by Ohio Super Lawyers magazine, 2006–2020
Ranked among “Best Law Firms” by U.S. News & World Report, 2011–2012 and 2014–2015 editions
Named among “Women in Law” by Best Lawyers, 2016
Ranked in the top 10% of America’s Most Honored Professionals, 2011 and 2012
Named among The Best Lawyers in America for labor and employment law in 2006 and 2011–2015
Named one of Ohio’s top attorneys by Cincinnati Magazine, 2011
Named one of Ohio’s top employment lawyers by Corporate Counsel magazine, February 2008
Named one of Cleveland’s Most Interesting People by Cleveland Magazine, January 2006

Selected Litigation

$42.8 million jury verdict in a breach-of-contract, fraud, and retaliation case, Lucarell v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., Mahoning County Court of Common Pleas, November 2012
$132,000 jury verdict plus attorneys’ fees in a legal-malpractice case arising from representation in a race-discrimination lawsuit, Thomas v. Avery Friedman et al., Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, February 2013
Successful appeal concerning direct evidence, Birch v. Cuyahoga County Probate Court, 173 Ohio App.3d 696 (2007)
$300,000 bench verdict in an age-discrimination case, reduced by $100,000 on appeal, Campolieti v. Cleveland Department of Public Safety, 2013-Ohio-5123
$2.1 million jury verdict in a pregnancy-discrimination and pregnancy-harassment case, Lehman v. Kohl’s, Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, May 2007
$155,000 jury verdict in a sexual-harassment and retaliation case, Vick v. Northcoast Business Systems, Inc., Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, November 2005
Prevailed in a COBRA case before Judge Ann Aldrich, Nero v. U.H., Case No. 1:04CV1833, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
$1.4 million jury verdict in an age-discrimination and retaliation case, Laraway v. Auto Nation, Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, November 2003
$412,000 jury verdict plus attorneys’ fees in a sexual-harassment and retaliation case, Guciardo v. Thistledown, Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, October 2003
$1.8 million jury verdict in a co-counseled disability-discrimination case, Maracz v. UPS, Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, June 2003
Successful Sixth Circuit appeal in a reverse race-discrimination case, Zambetti v. Cuyahoga Community College, 314 F.3d 249 (2002)
Negotiated a settlement for three women alleging sexual harassment and retaliation by the Hunting Valley Police Department and its police chief, February 2000
$850,000 jury verdict for a male sexual-harassment claimant, Stepic v. Penton Media, Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, August 2000
$200,000 jury verdict in a gender-discrimination case, Capiccione v. UPS, Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, 1997
$525,000 arbitration award against Cintas Corporation in a race-discrimination matter

Professional Associations and Community Involvement

Fellow, Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Foundation
Cleveland Employment Lawyers Inn of Court, founding member, 2005–present
Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers, 2004–2008
National Employment Lawyers Association, 1996–present
Cleveland Employment Lawyers Association, 1996–present
Ohio Employment Lawyers Association, 2002–present
WomenSpace Roundtable Coalition, 1993–1995
Greater Cleveland Community Shares, 1992–1996
Cuyahoga County Bar Association Commission on Women in the Law, 1992–1996
Judicial Selections Committee, Montgomery County Women’s Bar Association, 1990–1992
State of Maryland Coalition for Family Equity in Courts, 1991–1992
Co-chair, Access to Legal Services Committee of Montgomery County, Maryland, 1990–1992
Co-founder, Center for Divorcing Families, Montgomery County, Maryland, 1992
Volunteer attorney, A Woman’s Place of Montgomery County, Maryland, 1988–1991