A recent decision by a New York court interpreting the State’s Labor Law is of great significance to hedge fund managers doing business in the State.  The ruling is important to hedge fund firms because it recognizes that incentive-based compensation to financial industry employees – which typically depends on the overall success of the business (or at least of a team of employees) and not on the performance of a single employee – is not the sort of compensation that merits protection under the Labor Law.  In a guest article, Sean R. O’Brien and Sara A. Welch, Managing Partner and Counsel, respectively, at O’Brien LLP, discuss the claims, the ruling and the ramifications and lessons of the decision.