Bill Fallon has decades of experience representing employers in a wide variety of workplace issues and employment-related litigation. Best Lawyers® has named him Grand Rapids’ “Lawyer of the Year” five times: for Litigation – Labor & Employment in 2024 and 2012; for Labor Law – Management in 2021, 2018; and for Employment Law – Management in 2017.

Litigation Experience

Mr. Fallon has an established track record of success in hundreds of employment cases, with outright dismissals, wins at trial, and favorable settlements.  These cases include claims of discrimination and retaliation, disability accommodation, workplace harassment, wrongful discharge, breach of contract, sales commission disputes, grievance arbitrations, and many more.

In particular, he has substantial experience in complex “collective action” and “class action” overtime and minimum wage cases; non-competition and trade secrets cases; and disputes among shareholders of closely-held companies.  He is also experienced in the statistical analysis of workplace issues – both in litigation, and in proactively using “pay equity analysis” and “disparate impact analysis” to helping employers test for (and root out) possible discriminatory effects of workplace policies and practices.

Advising Employers

Mr. Fallon’s experience in court means that he is particularly well-equipped to help clients stay out of court.  He provides real-world advice and effective strategies for preventing or resolving workplace issues, including employment policies, contracts, investigations, management training, corrective action, disability and FMLA management, and more.

Representative Cases

Some examples of Mr. Fallon’s recent cases:

• Two nurses filed discrimination suits against the hospital where they worked. They alleged that a patient refused to be treated by African-American caregivers and that the hospital honored that request.  With great collaboration between our client and our legal team, our client obtained a complete victory in these very challenging cases – including success on appeal all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
• A small group of employees sued their employer under the Fair Labor Standards Act, alleging that they worked through lunch periods without being paid.  They asked the court to “certify” the case as a “collective action” so they could sue on behalf of thousands of employees.  Though courts commonly approve collective status in FLSA cases, we partnered with our client in a successful strategy to defeat it.  The court’s order denying collective certification was the death knell of the plaintiffs’ case.
• An engineer filed a novel federal lawsuit claiming that a complex mental disorder accounted for his performance problems. He alleged that our client violated the ADA by failing to accommodate his disability and by terminating his employment.  The strategy for this case included the effective development of psychiatric testimony, and successfully undermining the extensive medical evidence presented by the plaintiff.  The court ruled in favor of our client on every issue, the victory was affirmed on appeal, and substantial costs were assessed against the plaintiff.
• A global manufacturing company was accused of widespread discrimination against minorities.  Mr. Fallon worked with the client to establish and carry out a strategy that resulted in the case being dismissed outright.  The win was affirmed on appeal.

Professional Affiliations, Activities and Honors

Mr. Fallon is named in “The Best Lawyers in America®” for Employment Law – Management, Labor Law – Management, Litigation – Labor and Employment, and Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law.  He is a Michigan “Super Lawyer”® for Employment and Labor, and Grand Rapids Magazine® named him a “Top Lawyer in Labor and Employment Law” for 2023.  He is rated “AV-Preeminent” by Martindale-Hubbell®.

At Miller Johnson, Mr. Fallon has served on the firm’s Management Committee, as the firm’s General Counsel, as chair of the Firm’s Labor and Employment Section, Wage-Hour Practice Group, Recruiting Committee, and in several other leadership roles.

He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan’s Standing Committee on Character & Fitness.

He is past board chair and long-time director of Thresholds, Inc., a nonprofit agency serving individuals with developmental disabilities.  He is a member and past president of the Grand Rapids Chapter of Legatus.  He is past president and board member of the Grand Rapids Amateur Hockey Association, and coached many youth hockey, baseball, softball, and soccer teams.  He served as a director of the Gerald R. Ford Council of the Boy Scouts of America; trustee of the Grand Rapids Art Museum; trustee and president of the St. Thomas Education Foundation.  He is a member of the Grand Rapids Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, and the Catholic Lawyers Association of Western Michigan.

Education

 Mr. Fallon received his law degree, cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School in 1981, a master of science in Economics from the University of Wisconsin in 1978, and his undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame in 1977.