John W. Fischer

Biography

For more than 30 years, John Fischer has been engaged full-time in the private practice of management-side labor and employment law and litigation on a sophisticated level. He has substantial experience as the lead attorney representing employers in all aspects of labor and employment law on a regional and national basis.

John is a Board Certified Specialist in Labor and Employment Law.

Significant Representations

• Represented employers in all types of traditional labor law matters, numerous collective bargaining negotiations (as spokesperson), NLRB representation and unfair labor practice proceedings, union avoidance, representation and decertification election campaigns and approximately 100 labor arbitrations
• Lead counsel for employers in more than 50 employment-related lawsuits, including jury trials, bench trials and appeals in state and federal courts
• Defended claims of employment discrimination, wrongful discharge, workplace torts, public policy violations, retaliation, whistle blower protections, breach of contract, violations of state safety rules, prevailing wage rules, etc.
• Defended complex labor and employment law cases, including large FLSA collective actions, and complex or multi-jurisdiction discrimination, non-compete | trade secret and employee benefit lawsuits (See representative reported cases)
• Represented employers in OSHA compliance. Handled several OSHA citations and litigation, before both federal OSHA courts and state plan OSHA agencies and courts
• Handled matters involving other regulation of employment (e.g., FMLA, WARN, government contracting) and related agency investigations and enforcement (e.g., EEOC, OCRC, KCHR, OSHA, OFCCP, other DOL divisions)
• Handled complex labor disputes, including strikes involving several hundred employees, and multiple employers, locations, unions and bargaining units
• Handled labor and employment law issues in several business sales and acquisitions, start ups, closings and reductions in force
• Agency Claims - Handled more than 150 employment discrimination, retaliation, and other federal, state and local agency charges
• Private reviews and audits of employers' human resources operations for legal compliance and best practices. Develop and implement employee handbooks, hiring, performance evaluations and disciplinary policies, and other employment-related practices and procedures. Human Resources training. Workplace investigations. Negotiate and prepare individual employment contracts.

Representative Reported Cases

• Leonard v. Twin Towers,  6 Fed. Appx. 223, 2001 U.S. App. LEXIS 3577 (6^th Cir. 2001) - Represented the defendant-employer in this age discrimination lawsuit filed by a discharged manager. The Court affirmed summary judgment for the employer.
• Fils-Aime v. Duro Bag Mfg. Co.,  2006 N.J. Super. LEXIS 596 (App. Div. 2006) - Represented the defendant-employer in case alleging race discrimination in hiring during plant acquisition. The appellate court affirmed summary judgment for the employer.
• Franklin v. City of Kettering,  246 F.3d 531, 6 Wage & Hour Cases 2d (BNA)1615 (6^th Cir. 2001) - FLSA collective action for overtime pay filed by the City’s police officers. The Sixth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the City. Represented the City.
• Morrison v. Circuit City Stores,  317 F.3d 646 (6^th Cir. 2003) (en banc) - Employment discrimination lawsuit challenging Circuit City’s policy requiring employees to pursue employment claims only through private individual arbitration. Represented Circuit City here and in the underlying arbitration case. The arbitrator upheld Circuit City’s discharge of a store manager and rejected her claims of race and sex discrimination. The Sixth Circuit upheld, in part, Circuit City’s mandatory arbitration agreement and did not disturb the arbitrator’s decision, which remained final.
• O'Neal v. Kilbourne Medical Laboratories, Inc.,  2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22620 (E.D. Ky. 2007) - Represented the defendant-employer in FLSA collective action for overtime pay by 100-200 phlebotomists in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky who were paid straight-time wages plus a bonus.  Summary judgment granted to the defendant.
• Stern v. Union Institute, 1997 Ohio App. LEXIS 1159 (Hamilton Co. 1997) - Represented the defendant-employer against claim that the discharge of a faculty member breached his fixed-term employment contract. Obtained jury verdict, which was affirmed on appeal.
• Valentine v. Harris and Kroger Co., 1994 Ohio App. LEXIS 1976 (Hamilton Co. 1994) - Represented both defendants - the employer (Kroger) and the employer’s supervisor (Harris) - in race and age discrimination lawsuit. Jury verdict for the defendants affirmed by the court of appeals.
• Davon, Inc. v. Shalala 75 F.3d 1114 (7^th Cir. 1996), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 808 (1996) - Represented the plaintiff Davon, Inc. in this declaratory judgment action against the U. S. Secretary of HHS and the UMWA Combined Benefit Fund, challenging the constitutionality of the Coal Industry Retiree Health Benefit Act (“Act”) under the Takings Clause and Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. The Seventh Circuit rejected our argument and upheld the Act. The Supreme Court, however, later accepted the same argument and struck down the Act in Eastern Enterprises. v. Apfel, 524 U.S. 498 (1998). (I assisted in Eastern Enterprises and filed an amicus brief.) Congress then amended the Act to provide relief to Davon and others similarly situated.
• Teamsters Local Union No. 661 v. Zenith Logistics, Inc. and Kroger Co., 550 F.3d 589, 186 L.R.R.M. 2651 (6^th Cir. 2008) - Lawsuit by the Teamsters to compel three-party labor arbitration among the union, Zenith Logistics (the employer who is a party to the labor agreement with the Teamsters), and Kroger (Zenith’s predecessor and customer). The Sixth Circuit affirmed the District Court’s summary judgment for the defendants. Represented defendant Zenith Logistics.
• Independent Elec. Contractors v. Hamilton County Div. of Pub. Works,  101 Ohio App. 3d 580, 152 L.R.R.M. 2893 (Hamilton Co. 1995), review denied, 73 Ohio.St.3d 1410 (1995) - Lead counsel for the defendants, representing ESI, Inc., an electrical contractor whose employees are members of the IBEW.  Group of nonunion contractors sued ESI, Hamilton County, and others claiming that ESI and other unionized electrical contractors failed to pay their employees the prevailing wage on government-funded construction projects because part of the employees’ union dues went to a job targeting program administered by the union to benefit unionized contractors. Both the common pleas court and court of appeals accepted our defense that the claims of the nonunion contractors were preempted by the NLRA and LMRA. This position was later adopted by the Ohio Supreme Court in J.A. Croson Co. v. J.A. Guy, Inc., 81 Ohio St. 3d 346  (1998).
• Secretary of Labor v. Nutone, Inc.,  20 OSHC BNA 1443, 2003 OSHRC LEXIS 91 (2003) - Represented the employer in contested OSHA case alleging serious violations based on an overhead crane accident that resulted in significant injuries. Decision for the employer. Also represented the employer in the labor arbitration over the discharge of the crane operator. The Arbitrator upheld the discharge in an unreported decision.
• Secretary of Labor v. Lion Apparel www.koshrc.ky.gov/2000_present.htm (1999) -  Represented the employer in contested OSHA case alleging that the employer improperly exposed numerous employees in multiple facilities to excessive concentrations of formaldehyde. Decision for the employer.
• Good Samaritan Hospital and Health Center, 265 N.L.R.B. 618 (1988) - Represented employer defending claim that discharges of two employees violated the NLRA.  Decision for the employer.
• Marker v. City of Miamisburg, 1986 Ohio App. LEXIS 6816 (Montgomery Co. 1986) - Defended the City against an employee’s wrongful discharge claims. Judgment for the City.
• Mead Corp. v. Ohio Civil Rights Commission, 1986 Ohio App. LEXIS 7374 (Fayette Co. 1986) - Represented employer against claim of race discrimination by discharged employee. Court affirmed the common pleas court’s decision for the employer.
• Duriron Co. v. Hill, 1983 Ohio App. LEXIS 12705 (Montgomery Co. 1983) - Represented employer-Duriron against race discrimination and retaliation claims of two discharged employees. Court affirmed the judgment for the employer.