Joseph F. Spitzzeri is the co-chair of Johnson & Bell’s Construction and Employment groups. He focuses his practice on construction, municipal liability, employment liability and defense issues.
Mr. Spitzzeri represents contractors and employees before the Inspector General for the City of Chicago and State of Illinois, defends Fair Labor Standard Act cases and also defends Welfare & Pension Fund Contribution Deficiency cases.
Mr. Spitzzeri previously worked as an Illinois Assistant Attorney General, trying numerous cases in several circuit courts throughout Illinois. He has also tried cases in the U.S. District Court for the Northern and Central Districts of Illinois, including two class actions.
An avid writer and speaker, Mr. Spitzzeri represents Security and Loss Prevention Consultants in litigation and regularly presents at the International Risk Management Institute’s Construction Risk Conference on topics such as Additional Insured Endorsements, Interacting with OSHA, and Contractual Risk Transfer. His peers have noted his success as a trial attorney by honoring him with an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell.
Mr. Spitzzeri is a member the American, Illinois, Cook County and Kane County Bar Associations, and the Illinois Wind Working Group. He is also a member of the Association of Subcontractors and Affiliates - Chicago and the Illinois Chapter of the United States Green Building Council.
Mr. Spitzzeri has been appointed to the Construction Management Association of America Legal Counsel Committee. He has also served as president and chairman of several societies, including, most recently, the Kane County Justinian Society of Lawyers.
Honors
• AV rating, Martindale-Hubbell
•Illinois Super Lawyers 2005-2013, 2018-2020
• Leading Lawyers 2017-2019
Presentations & Publications
Publications
•“7th Circuit Court of Appeals Affirms Preliminary Injunction Authorizing Transgender Bathroom Use”
•“Ninth Circuit Opens Divide in Equal Pay Cases”
•“Full Seventh Circuit Reverses Course on Sexual Orientation Claims Under Title VII”
•“10th Circuit Refuses to Enforce EEOC Pattern and Practice Administrative Subpoena”
•“Third Circuit Joins the Fray - Holds That Class Actions Are Not Available Where The Arbitration Agreement Is Silent on the Issue”
•“Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Establishes New ‘Joint Employer’ Test Under the Fair Labor Standards Act”
•Mach Mining Conciliation Issue Revisited by District Court
•Non-Compete Agreements Under Attack in Illinois
•U.S. Departments of Justice and Education Weigh In on Transgender Issues
•Drafting a Leave Policy - Easier Said Than Done
•Fourth Circuit Reverses District Court on Transgender Locker Room Issues Giving Deference to Department of Education Guidance Letter
•Appellate Court Expands Reach of Illinois Human Rights Act, Impacting Pending and Future Litigation
•District Court Rejects Title IX Restroom Access Claim of Transgender Student
•EEOC Ordered Back to Conciliation
•Motor Carrier’s Self-Reporting Policy Violates the ADA
•Federal District Judge Upholds Chicago PD Rule Limiting Tattoos
•EEOC Denied Roving Depositions and Onsite Inspection of Employee Functions
•Notice of Contingent Withdrawal Liability is Sufficient to Establish the Notice Prong of Successor Withdrawal Liability Under ERISA
•EEOC Issues Proposed Rule on Application of ADA to Employer Wellness Programs
•Supreme Court Upholds District Court’s Review of the EEOC’s Conciliation Efforts
•Recent Seventh Circuit Opinion Continues Support of Exemption in FLSA Overtime Pay Complaints
•In The Crosshairs: EEOC Targeting Companies With Outdated Return From Leave Policies
•Hospital Hit For 300K For Firing Employee After Leave of Absence
•Attention Employers: A New Year Brings New Employment Laws for 2015
•Employer Pre-Medical Treatment Notice Policies Called Into Question
•New Requirements for Employers Using Payroll Cards
•EEOC Issues Updated Pregnancy Discrimination Guidance
•EEOC Files Suit Over Common Severance Agreement Language
•DOL Whistleblower Investigations: A Summary Overview
•Interacting with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission During Administrative Investigations
•Supreme Court to Weigh EEOC’s Duty to Conciliate Bias Claims
•The Tip Credit - The End of the Automatic Gratuity?
•Recent Developments With Illinois Employee Classification Act
•Will Your Independent Contractors Come Back to Haunt You?
•OSHA Clarifies Regulations Regarding Walkaround Representative
•Supreme Court Ruling Favors Companies in FLSA Donning and Doffing Disputes
•Interacting with OSHA -- Employer’s Rights and Responsibilities
•U.S. Supreme Court Finds that an Unanswered Rule 68 Offer that Satisfies Plaintiff’s Claim in its Entirety Moots Plaintiff’s Cause of Action and Necessitates Dismissal of an FLSA Collective Action
•EEOC Issues Revised Publications on the Employment Rights of People with Specific Disabilities
•U.S. Supreme Court Narrows the Scope of Title VII Harassment and Retaliation Claims
•Statutory Amendments Likely to Increase Whistleblower Activity
•Obamacare Comes to Construction
•The Illinois Prevailing Wage Act Adds Teeth
•The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Comments on High School Diploma Requirements
•Minnesota Court Allows Retroactive Exception to Construction Statute of Repose
•Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) 2011 Charge and Litigation Statistics are Revealing
•Niosh Lends Helping Hand to Nail Gun Users
•The Next Generation of Leed
•Chicago to Reshape Minority Contracting
•Targeted Tenders and Horizontal Exhaustion an Illinois Phenomenon
•New Illinois Rules for Professional Conduct
•Accident Investigation Guidlines with Litigation in Mind
•Hire Act Signed into Law
•E-Discovery: A Wake-Up Call to Litigants
•E-Verify Self Check for Workers
•National Labor Relations Board Issues Complaints over Firings Related to Facebook Postings
•Interacting with OSHA - Employer’s Rights and Responsibilities
•The Permitting Process for Transporting Heavy Equipment
•When Jack and Jill Return from War - An Analysis of USERRA
•American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
•Additional Insureds and Targeted Tenders an Analysis of Illinois Law
•Liability Issues in the Defense of Construction Defect Cases in Illinois
•Best Practices in Wind Energy Options, Easements, & Leases
•Construction Negligence Cases in Illinois, A Look at Sections 414 & 343 of the Restatement (2d) of Torts
•Coverage for Construction Defects: An Illinois Perspective
•What to Know if the Whistles Blow
Presentations
•“Cybersecurity and Ethics for Law Firms,” Johnson & Bell presentation to firm attorneys, June 19, 2017
•“Class Action Waivers in Arbitration Agreements - Are They Still Viable?” ALFA International ’s Labor and
Employment Practice Group Seminar, January 12, 2017
• “ALFA International 2016 Ethics Challenge,” June 8-10, 2016
•Moderator, “Litigating Against the EEOC: Conciliation, Discovery Tactics and Limits,” ALFA International 2015 Labor & Employment Practice Group Seminar
•“Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Reasonable Accommodation,” training seminar on October 16, 2015
•Moderator, Can You Hear Me Calling?, ALFA International’s 2013 Labor and Employment Practice Group Seminar, October 2-4, 2013
• Restrictive Covenants in the Medical Profession Johnson & Bell, Ltd. Health Seminar, May 12, 2011
•“Third-Party Retaliation Claims”, IDC Employment Law Committee Lunch & Learn, Chicago, IL, February 24, 2011