Carmelyn P. Malalis (KAR-meh-lin mah-LAH-liss) was appointed Chair and Commissioner of the New York City Commission on Human Rights (the Commission) in November 2014 following more than a decade in private practice as an advocate for employees’ rights in the workplace.
Prior to her appointment, Commissioner Malalis was a partner at Outten & Golden LLP where she co-founded and co-chaired its Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Workplace Rights Practice Group and co-chaired its Disability and Family Responsibilities Discrimination Practice Group; and successfully represented employees in negotiations, agency proceedings, and litigation involving claims of sexual harassment, retaliation, and discrimination based on race, national origin, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, pregnancy, disability, and religion.
Throughout her career, Ms. Malalis has demonstrated a fierce commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion, and preventing and prosecuting discrimination and intolerance. Since she assumed her role as Chair and Commissioner in February 2015, Commissioner Malalis has revitalized the agency, making it a recognized venue for justice for all New Yorkers through increased enforcement, novel restorative justice approaches to case and conflict resolution, and robust public education and outreach to prevent discrimination in New York City.
She has served on the New York City Bar Association’s Executive Committee and Committee on LGBT Rights, Human Rights Watch’s Advisory Committee to its LGBT Rights Program, the American Bar Association’s Section on Labor and Employment Law Committee on Diversity in the Legal Profession, and the board of Queers for Economic Justice.
Commissioner Malalis earned her J.D. from the Northeastern University School of Law and received a B.A. in Women’s Studies from Yale University. She and her wife live in Brooklyn with their two children.