Chaya Mandelbaum is a Partner at Rudy, Exelrod, Zieff & Lowe, LLP where he represents employees in individual and class action litigation and negotiations across the spectrum of employment law. He has extensive experience in wage and hour, discrimination, retaliation, harassment and leave of absence matters. 

Chaya recently served as Chair of the California Fair Employment and Housing Council.  He was appointed and re-appointed to the position by former California Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., and both appointments were confirmed by the California Senate. The Council promotes regulations related to employment and housing discrimination and holds hearings on civil rights issues facing the state.

Before joining REZL, Chaya was a Senior Litigation Counsel at Sanford Heisler. While there, he represented employees in class actions involving wage and hour, discrimination and other civil rights claims.

Chaya previously served as a Trial Attorney in the Office of the Solicitor for the U.S. Department of Labor, where he successfully represented the Secretary of Labor in significant enforcement actions, including a multi-million dollar wage and penalty recovery based on violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.  He was successful in both jury and bench trials during his tenure. 

Prior to his service at the Department of Labor, Chaya worked in the Labor and Employment Practice Group at Morgan Lewis & Bockius, where he represented employers in matters involving wage and hour, employment discrimination and labor relations.