Partner
CurrentAllison D. Balus is a partner with Baird Holm’s Labor, Employment and Employee Benefits Law Group. She primarily represents management clients in federal and state court employment-related litigation and arbitration. Her litigation experience includes federal court jury and bench trials in Title VII, FMLA, ADA, ADEA, breach of contract, and whistleblower cases. In addition, Allison defends employers against charges of discrimination before state and federal agencies and counsels and advocates for employers on a range of employment issues.Allison also has considerable experience defending and counseling clients in class/collective actions, involving claims under the FLSA and other wage and hour laws, the ADA, GINA, the FCRA, the TCPA, and various data privacy claims. Her successes in these class and collective actions have been at the presuit, class certification, trial, and appellate levels. Class Action Highlights:8th Circuit reversal of district court’s Rule 23 certification of 7,000+ member class asserting disparate treatment claims under the ADA (2020)Order denying class certification under Rule 23 in Iowa state law independent contractor lawsuit (2019)Order compelling arbitration and striking Plaintiff’s collective action allegations (2016)Jury and appellate verdicts in favor of employer in FLSA and state wage and hour law collective/class actions (2011–2015)Employment Litigation Highlights:9th Circuit order affirming judgment as a matter of law on ADA failure to hire case (2021)Order dismissing TCPA and related state law claims under FRCP 12 (2020)Preliminary injunctions to enforce a noncompete covenant/restrict former employee who breached fiduciary duties (2020)Summary judgment on employee’s ADA claims related to his fitness-for-duty examination (2020)Two 8th Circuit decisions affirming summary judgment in ADA reasonable accommodation cases (2019)Stipulated injunctions with former employees who had violated noncompete/duty of loyalty (2018)
