Jeffrey D. Iles focuses his labor and employment practice on representing employers in complex litigation and high-stakes workplace disputes. Jeff regularly defends employers in single plaintiff and class and collective actions in federal and state courts, in arbitration proceedings, and before administrative agencies, including the EEOC, IDHR, and NRLB. His client-focused, people-first approach ensures practical, strategic representation tailored to his clients’ business objectives.
A seasoned litigator, Jeff has extensive experience leading litigation matters from inception through resolution, utilizing effective discovery practices, FMCSA-trained mediation and negotiation skills, creative and persuasive dispositive motion practice, and zealous and resourceful trial skills to secure winning results for clients. Jeff’s litigation experience spans a wide range of claims, including discrimination, harassment, retaliation, failure to accommodate, wrongful discharge, biometric and genetic privacy, and wage and hour disputes, including claims brought under arising under Title VII, Section 1983, the ADA, ADEA, FLSA, NLRA, IMWL, IWPCA, BIPA, GIPA, and other federal, state, and municipal laws.
In addition to his litigation practice, Jeff provides day-to-day advice and counseling to help employers proactively address workplace issues and mitigate risk. He advises on matters arising under the panoply of federal, state, and municipal laws bearing on workplace rights. Jeff draws on prior in-house experience at one of the United States’ largest federal agencies and a publicly traded, multinational corporation to deliver practical, business-oriented guidance.
During law school, Jeff served as an assistant editor of the Indiana Law Journal and received CALI Excellence for the Future Awards in Trial Advocacy and Administrative Law.
Selected Matters
- Secured full AAA arbitration defense award after a protracted defense of claims of race discrimination, harassment, and retaliation brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Illinois Human Rights Act, and Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act of 1871. After a multi-day merits hearing during which Jeff made opening statements and conducted direct and/or cross examinations of all eight trial witnesses, the AAA Arbitrator issued a full finding in the client’s favor.
- Obtained summary judgment in an Age Discrimination in Employment Act case before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
- Obtained summary judgment in an Illinois Human Rights Act disability discrimination and retaliation case before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
- Obtained pleadings-stage dismissal of an Illinois Minimum Wage Law putative wage-and-hour class action.
- Obtained pleadings-stage dismissal of state-law tort claims challenging a client’s COVID-19 vaccination program.