Christopher Paul Maugans

Christopher Maugans concentrates his practice in complex commercial litigation and matters involving employment and labor law. With a focus on serving both public and private sector clients, Chris handles matters involving discrimination claims, improper practice charges, employee grievance arbitrations, General Municipal Law 207-c proceedings, and New York Education Law 3020-a hearings, as well as proceedings under Article 75 and Article 78 of the New York Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR). Chris helps clients prepare for and navigate trials, mediations, arbitrations, and hearings before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and the New York State Division of Human Rights (DHR). He regularly counsels clients and litigates the enforceability of restrictive covenants in employment agreements, including non-competition and non-solicitation provisions.

Prior to joining Goldberg Segalla, Chris worked in-house in a dual human resources and legal counsel role within a large community college in Western New York, where he helped draft and negotiate collective bargaining agreements, investigated grievances, and led internal investigations into employee attendance, performance, and harassment allegations. He also handled Freedom of Information Law requests, reasonable accommodation requests under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and issues involving the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Chris concurrently earned his M.B.A. and J.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he held several prestigious fellowships and scholarships. He was a judicial law clerk with the Hon. Frederick Marshall and an extern with the United States Equal Opportunity Commission’s Buffalo office. He also worked as a law clerk for a global private food manufacturing company, where he drafted employment agreements and non-disclosure agreements, and edited employee handbooks.

Chris, who finished in the top 10 percent of his M.B.A. class and completed the University at Buffalo School of Management LeaderCORE™ certification program, is one of the founding members of the Buffalo MBA Consulting Group (BMC), Western New York's first pro bono consulting firm run by M.B.A. students. There, he provided management consultation services to a range of non- and for-profit businesses. From 2011 to 2014, Chris also participated in the WNY Prosperity Fellowship, a program which invests in the education of students possessing high potential to benefit the economic development of the region. He now serves on the Program’s Alumni Advisory Board.

Recognized as a Super Lawyers Rising Star in Employment and Labor law and honored for his accomplishments in the field of human resources, Chris has served as a guest lecturer on human resources and labor and employment law topics at Canisius College, Daemen College, and the State University of New York at Buffalo. He also regularly drafts Goldberg Segalla’s Employment and Labor Alerts, drafts Goldberg Segalla’s Higher Education Alerts, writes for the firm's Life Science Matters blog, and is an associate editor of the firm’s Professional Liability Matters blog, offering insights on employment practices liabilities.