Littler Mendelson, P.C. (Littler), the nation’s largest employment and labor law firm representing management, has added John Polley as a shareholder in its growing Minneapolis office. Polley, formerly of Faegre Baker Daniels, brings nearly 30 years of labor and employment law experience to Littler, with a primary focus in the areas of traditional labor law, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) litigation and counseling and workplace drug and alcohol testing.
“The Minneapolis office continues to experience steady growth and we are excited to have someone of John’s caliber join our attorney ranks,” said George Wood, office managing shareholder of the firm’s Minneapolis office. “John is a prominent and long-time member of the labor and employment community and his depth of knowledge and extensive experience will serve our clients well.”
In the area of labor relations, Polley’s experience includes acting as the principal negotiator for employers in a variety of diverse industries, including construction, education, energy, food and agriculture, Indian tribes, manufacturing and industrial, new energy, clean technology and climate, retail, and sports and entertainment. He has successfully opposed more than 90 union organizing campaigns from New Jersey to New Mexico. Polley’s bargaining experience includes multiemployer bargaining, first-contract bargaining, and bargaining to impasse and permanently replacing economic strikers across a four-state region represented by seven locals of an international union. He also regularly bargains to renew expiring contracts for clients.
Additionally, Polley is one of only a few recognized defense experts in OSHA litigation in Minnesota. He represented the Minnesota Department of Corrections to defend its prison system against citations involving a prisoner assault of a prisoner guard. Polley’s occupational safety and health practice also includes the defense of complex proceedings, including several death cases, and his OSHA litigation experience includes the successful defense of serious, willful and repeat citations for violations in both general industry and construction.
As a leading authority in the area of drug and alcohol testing, Polley has been involved in workplace drug testing issues since the start. He has written and helped implement private-sector drug testing policies for clients in all 50 states that comply with the myriad of state and local laws.
“I have long admired Littler and look forward to being part of a firm that is unmatched in the area of labor and employment law,” added Polley. “Furthermore, Littler’s growing international presence will enable me to further meet the needs of those clients with global labor and employment matters.”
Active in the legal community, Polley is a member of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Section on Labor and Employment Law, the ABA Committee on Practice and Procedure Under the National Labor Relations Act, the ABA Committee on the Development of the Law Under the National Labor Relations Act and the ABA Committee on Occupational Safety and Health Law. He regularly publishes on a various issues relating to labor and employment law and has served as a contributing editor for fifth edition of The Developing Labor Law and the sixth edition of How Arbitration Works, both published by BNA.
Polley received his J.D., cum laude, from the Indiana University School of Law (1984) and his B.A., cum laude, from Michigan State University (1981).
