Godfrey & Kahn S.C.: John Haase

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John Haase is a shareholder in the Labor & Employment and Litigation Practice Groups. He serves as the office managing partner of the firm’s Green Bay and Appleton offices. John is engaged in a broad-based employment law practice, representing employers in matters before equal rights agencies, arbitrators and federal and state courts. A substantial amount of John's practice involves advising employers on a variety of employment issues, such as non-compete agreements, terminations, FMLA, ADA, NLRA and wage and hour matters.

John maintains an active employment litigation practice dedicated to advocating for employers in employment and labor disputes. He has represented businesses in class action, discrimination, wage and hour, non-compete and unfair labor practices matters. John represents clients in a number of industries, including manufacturing, consumer products, retail, health care service and public sector.

John began his law practice in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corp where he served as a trial attorney.

Representative Experience

Successful defense of health care system in class action alleging unpaid overtime related to meal break policy.

Represented consumer products manufacturer in a collective action brought by 58 former employees alleging age discrimination. Successfully enforced the majority of release agreements at issue in the matter at summary judgment.

Lead defense counsel in a collective action brought by former employees claiming violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act's on-call pay rules and regulations. Obtained summary judgment dismissing all of plaintiffs' claims. (Roland, et al. v. Unity Hospice, LLC, Case No. 07-C-1103, E.D. Wis., 2010).

Defense of manufacturer in lawsuit alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Following discovery, the court granted summary judgment dismissing all of the plaintiff's claims. (Nuetzel v. Oshkosh Corporation, Case No. 07-C-1045, E.D. Wis., 2007).

Represented a public employer in defense of wrongful termination claims brought by two former employees. The plaintiffs alleged race and gender discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; they also alleged the denial of due process with regard to the loss of their employment. The court granted summary judgment dismissing all of the plaintiffs' claims. (Bowman-Farrell v. CESA 8, Case No. 02-C-818, E.D. Wis., 2007).

Successful defense of national information management firm in action alleging pregnancy discrimination. The court dismissed the Plaintiff's claims on summary judgment. (Jobelius v. SourceCorp, Case No. 05-C-191, E.D. Wis. 2005).

Represented a professional accounting firm in an action to enforce non-competition agreements against three departing employees. Successfully obtained a preliminary injunction which prevented the former employees from engaging in any further violations of their non-compete agreements. (Wipfli LLP v. Metz, et al., Case No. 03-CV-403, Oneida County Circuit Court, 2004).

Defended employers in a wide variety of grievance arbitration matters (brought by unions such as United Auto Workers, Teamsters, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, WEAC and AFSCME) addressing questions of just cause for termination, layoffs, work hours and other issues under labor agreements.

Obtained summary judgment for school district in defense of an age discrimination claim, including appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. (Tiedt v. Manitowoc Public School District, Decision No. 98-3631).

Obtained summary judgment on behalf of trucking company facing claim of race discrimination. (In RE ANR Advance Transportation Co., Case No. 99-22155 JES, United States Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin).

Negotiated health insurance concessions, pay issues, management right clauses and related issues during collective bargaining on behalf of management.