Tana Forrester

Photo of Tana Forrester
Tana Forrester is an associate at Kessler Matura P.C.

Ms. Forrester exclusively represents employees in a wide range of employment matters. Her employment practice focuses on discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wage theft. In addition to representing individuals, Ms. Forrester also advocates for employees in multi-plaintiff litigation, including class and collective actions. She engages in counseling, negotiation, and litigation on an individual and class basis, and is committed to finding the best strategy to achieve her client’s goals. 

Ms. Forrester has successfully resolved cases for employees who face workplace discrimination including: pregnancy discrimination, sexual harassment, race discrimination and disability discrimination. 

Tana’s wage and hour practice includes representing employees misclassified as exempt form overtime laws and those forced to work off-the-clock. She has represented workers who were denied overtime, misclassified as independent contractors rather than employees and denied minimum wage. 

Ms. Forrester received her law degree from the City University of New York School of Law, where she concentrated her studies on employees’ rights. As part of her clinical education at CUNY’s Workers’ Rights Project she represented employees as a student attorney in wage theft actions in federal court.

Bar Admissions

  • New York
  • U.S. District Court Southern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York

Education

  • City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law, Long Island City, New York
    • Juris Doctor
    • Honors: Peggy Browning Fellow
    • Honors: Revson Public Interest Fellow
    • Honors: Workers’ Rights Project for Economic Justice: Board Member
  • Northeastern University
    • B.A.: Political Science and Sociology
    • Honors: magna cum laude
    • Honors: Honors Program

Honors and Awards

  • Super Lawyers Rising Star, 2020-2023

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • National Lawyers Guild, New York City Chapter Labor & Employment Committee, Member
  • American Bar Association’s, Labor and Employment Law Section, Member
  • National Employment Lawyers Association of New York (NELA/NY), Member
  • Federal Bar Association, Member

Speaking Engagements

  • November 7, 2019 – Presenter at City University of New York Law School Lawyering Seminar
  • April 24, 2020 – Panelist “Musicians and Freelancers: Know Your Employment Rights During the Pandemic”
  • May 8, 2020 - Panelist "Art Law and COVID-19," The Center for Art Law, the Artistic Freedom Initiative, and Mana Contemporary
  • May 21, 2020 - Panelist "Know Your Rights During the Pandemic," Yemeni Merchants Association
  • May 28, 2020 – Presenter “Employment in the Time of Corona” presented by the National Lawyers Guild, Labor and Employment Section
  • May 14, 2021 - Presenter "Returning to In Person Work in the COVID-19 Era." LERA 2021 Spring Conference.

Published Works

  • Author, American Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Winter 2020 Report , (Vol. 48, Issue 2, p8-8. I p.)
  • Contributor, "Circuits Differ in Applying Rule 23 Amendments'" Labor & Employment Law, Vol. 48, No. 2 (Winter 2020)