Profile
Allison D. Balus primarily represents management clients in federal and state court employment-related litigation and arbitration. Her litigation experience includes federal court jury and bench trials in the FLSA, ADA, Title VII, FMLA, ADEA, breach of contract, and whistleblower cases. She has represented employers in the retail, food processing, health care, manufacturing, marketing, professional staffing, transportation, and fast-food industries, among others. Allison also has considerable experience defending and counseling clients in class and collective actions, particularly those involving claims under the FLSA and other wage and hour laws, the ADA, GINA, the FCRA, the TCPA, and various data privacy claims. Her successes in defending class and collective actions have been at the class certification, summary judgment, trial, and appellate levels.
In addition, Allison counsels and defends public sector clients in education law matters such as due process petitions under the IDEA, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Nebraska Special Education Act; due process hearings under Nebraska Revised Statute §§ 79-827 and 79-829; proceedings under the Nebraska Student Discipline Act; and Nebraska Tort Claims Act litigation.
Since 2019, Allison has been selected by her peers for inclusion in the Best Lawyers In America® for Labor and Employment Litigation and in 2022 and 2025 was selected as “Lawyer of the Year” for Omaha Litigation – Labor and Employment. She is also included in Great Plains Super Lawyers in the practice area of Employment Litigation, is recognized by Benchmark Litigation© as a Labor and Employment Star, and is named in Chambers USA. In addition, Allison regularly speaks on employment law topics, including recent presentations for the American Bar Association, Practicing Law Institute, the Nebraska State Bar Association, and the Nebraska Council of School Attorneys.
Areas of Practice
Education
- Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., cum laude, 2002
- University of Nebraska at Lincoln, B.A., English and French, 1999
Bar & Court Admissions
- Iowa, 2011
- Nebraska, 2005
- District of Columbia, 2003
- Virginia, 2002
- United States Supreme Court
- United States Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals
- United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
- United States District Court, District of Nebraska
- United States District Court, Northern District of Iowa
- United States District Court, Southern District of Iowa
- United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia
- United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois
Professional & Civic Affiliations
- American Bar Association, Member of Labor and Employment and Litigation sections, Member of Fair Labor Standards Legislation and Class Action and Derivative Suits Committees (2002 – present); Employer Co-Chair of Federal Labor Standards Legislation Committee (2023 – 2025); FLSA Midwinter Report Co-Editor-in-Chief (2021 – 2023); Leadership Development Program (2019)
- Wage & Hour Defense Institute member (2018 – present); Secretary (2022 – 2023); Vice Chair (2024 – 2025); Chair (2026 – 2027)
- Nebraska Council of School Attorneys Member (2022 – present)
- Nebraska State Bar Association (2006 – present); Executive Committee for Labor Relations and Employment Law Section Co-Chair (2017 – 2018); member (2014 – 2017)
- Member of United States District Court for the District of Nebraska Federal Practice Committee (2019–present); Chair (2022 – 2023)
- Member of Iowa Federal Practice Committee (2021 – present)
- American Employment Law Council (2023 – present)
- Ronald McDonald House of Omaha Board of Directors (2020 – 2024)
Selected Practice Highlights
- Jury verdict in favor of employer in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska after a seven-day trial on a plaintiff’s ADA disparate treatment and failure to accommodate claims (2023)
- Order from the District Court of Douglas County, Nebraska denying motion to temporarily enjoin bidding contract between school district and roofing company
- Summary judgment order from District Court of Merrick County, Nebraska dismissing age and retaliation claims (2022)
- Order from the District Court of Douglas County, Nebraska affirming decision by board of education on student disciplinary action
- Ninth Circuit order affirming judgment as a matter of law on ADA failure to hire case (2021)
- Partial summary judgment order from U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa dismissing claims for certain categories of alleged damages under the Iowa Wage Payment Collection Act (2021)
- 8th Circuit opinion reversing district court’s Rule 23 certification of 7,000+ member class asserting disparate treatment claims under the ADA (2020)
- Order from U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada dismissing TCPA and related state law claims under FRCP 12(b)(2) and 12(b)(6) (2020)
- Summary judgment order from U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska dismissing ADA disparate treatment, failure to accommodate, and retaliation claims (2020)
- Preliminary injunction restricting former employee who had breached his fiduciary duties and duty of loyalty, as well as misappropriated trade secrets, from soliciting customers for one month (2020)
- Summary judgment order from U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska dismissing ADA disparate treatment and unlawful medical inquiry claims related to a fitness-for-duty examination (2020)
- Two Eighth Circuit appellate decisions affirming summary judgment for employer in cases involving failure to provide reasonable accommodation under the ADA (2019)
- Summary judgment order from U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska on employer’s classification of workers as independent contractors under the FLSA (2017)
Recent Speaking Engagements
- “Wage and Hour Case Law Rapid Fire Update,” Wage & Hour Litigation Compliance 2024, PLI, New York City, January 2024
- “Retaliation Under the FLSA,” ABA Annual Labor & Employment Law Conference, November 2023
- “Nuts and Bolts of FLSA Collective Actions,” NSBA Labor and Employment Section, October 2023
- “Chat GPT (AI) Lawyer Ethics,” Nebraska Council of School Attorneys, 2023
- “Modern Models of Success for Women in Law,” panel member at Drinks Among Friends, 2023
- “FLSA Hot Topics,” ABA FLSL Midwinter Meeting, March 2023
- “FLSA Hot Topics,” ABA FLSL Midwinter Meeting, February 2022
- “Expert Witnesses in Federal Court: Evaluation through Trial,” ISBA Federal Practice Seminar, December 2021
- “FLSA Case Roundup,” ABA LEL Annual Meeting, November 2021
- “FLSA Hot Topics,” ABA FLSL Midwinter Virtual Meeting, February 2021
- “Wage and Hour Mistakes Health Care Employers Often Make,” Iowa Hospital Association webinar, 2020
