Joel Andersen

Representative Matters

Appellate Litigation

• C.H. Robinson Worldwide v. Traffic Tech (8th Cir.) – Obtained reversal of summary judgment on breach of non-solicit claims and improper application of state choice-of-law rules.
• Miller v. Honkamp Krueger Financial Services (8th Cir.) – Obtained reversal of improvidently granted injunction in non-compete and customer non-solicit case.
• Mitchell v. Target (Minn. Ct. App.) – Obtained affirmance of summary judgment applying federal honest belief doctrine to reprisal claim under Minnesota Human Rights Act.
• Sandoval v. American Building Maintenance Industries (8th Cir.) – Obtained affirmance of dismissal of multiple plaintiffs’ retaliation, sex discrimination, quid pro quo sexual harassment, and hostile workplace claims.
• Amano McGann v. Klavon (Minn. Ct. App.) – Obtained reversal of Rule 12 dismissal of claims asserting breaches of restrictive covenants.
• Howard v. Life Time Fitness (8th Cir.) – Obtained stipulation for dismissal of appeal regarding grant of motion to compel arbitration for unpaid wage claims.
• C.H. Robinson v. XPO Logistics (Minn. Ct. App.); XPO Logistics v. C.H. Robinson (Conn. Super. Ct.) – Obtained affirmance of order denying motion to dismiss on personal jurisdiction grounds; defended against antitrust counterclaims alleging restrictive covenants were unlawful restraints.
• Walz v. Ameriprise Financial (8th Cir.) – Obtained affirmance of summary judgment on plaintiff’s failure to accommodate and disability discrimination claims.
• Berg v. Brown (Minn. Ct. App.) – Obtained post-trial reversal of court’s denial of JNOV motion on plaintiff’s fraud claim.
• Hayes v. Questar Capital Corp. (8th Cir.) – Obtained affirmance of summary judgment on disparate treatment and hostile work environment claims.
• Schaefer v. Cargill Kitchen Solutions (Minn. Ct. App.) – Obtained affirmance of summary judgment on plaintiff’s sexual abuse/sexual assault, negligent retention and supervision, whistleblower, and punitive damages claims.
• Price v. Northern States Power (8th Cir.) – Obtained affirmance of summary judgment on three plaintiffs’ Equal Pay Act claims.
• State v. Lopez (Minn. Supr. Ct.) – Obtained unanimous reversal of court of appeals decision in pro bono representation of criminal defendant.
• Azie v. Holder (8th Cir.) – Pro bono representation of asylum-seeking individual.

Trade Secret and Restrictive Covenant Litigation

• Nutra Bridge v. TSI USA (D. Minn.) – Obtained dismissal of declaratory judgment claim in first substantive decision interpreting Minnesota’s 2023 statutory non-compete ban.
• Avantax v. Walloch (N.D. Tex.) – Defeated motion for TRO against financial advisor to enforce non-compete contained in stock purchase agreement; subsequent motion for preliminary injunction withdrawn after expedited discovery and briefing.
• Smart Express v. Precision Diagnostics (Minn. Dist. Ct.) – Defeated motion for temporary restraining order, then obtained complete summary judgment victory, in non-compete and customer non-solicit case.
• Medtronic v. Gallimore (Minn. Dist. Ct.) – Defeated motion for temporary restraining order, with court finding that Medtronic completely failed to show even a single factor supporting injunctive relief.
• Financial advisory firm v. Respondents (AAA Arbitration) – After three-day arbitration, obtained complete victory for financial advisors on multi-million dollar non-compete, non-solicit, non-disclosure, and trade secret misappropriation claims.
• Perficient v. Craft (D. Minn.) – Defeated motion for temporary restraining order on customer non-solicit and non-disclosure case, with ruling from the bench following just days to submit opposition briefing.
• Piper Sandler & Co. v. Gonzalez (D. Minn.) – Defeated motion for temporary restraining order and motion for expedited discovery on claim of breach of customer non-solicitation agreement in financial services industry.
• Boston Scientific v. Shockwave Medical (Minn. Dist. Ct.) – Defeated motion for temporary restraining order and subsequent motion for temporary injunction following expedited discovery. Court found on both motions that Boston Scientific completely failed to show even a single factor supporting injunctive relief, leading Boston Scientific to dismiss all its claims with prejudice.
• BTM Global Consulting v. Centium Consulting (Minn. Dist. Ct.) – Obtained summary judgment on misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of non-compete, breach of confidentiality, and related tortious interference claims in dispute between NetSuite implementation companies.
• J. Swanson & Co. v. Ighodaro Consulting (Minn. Dist. Ct.) – Defeated motion for temporary injunction on sale-of-business non-compete claim, then obtained summary judgment on breach of asset purchase agreement and violation of non-compete and non-solicit.
• ImageTrend, Inc. v. Locality Media (D. Minn.) – Obtained dismissal of trade secret misappropriation, tortious interference, and corporate defamation claims in dispute between computer software companies.
• Fulton v. Honkamp Krueger Financial Services (D. Minn.); Moeschler v. Honkamp Krueger Financial Services (D. Minn.); Honkamp Krueger Financial Services v. Anderson and Straumanis (Iowa Dist. Ct.) – Defeated multiple motions for temporary injunctions in non-compete and customer non-solicit cases under Iowa and Minnesota law.
• IWCO v. Nahan (Minn. Dist. Ct.) – Defeated motion for temporary restraining order in trade secrets dispute between direct marketing competitors.
• Mental Health Resources v. ExpanseMN (Minn. Dist. Ct.) – Defeated motion for temporary injunction seeking enforcement of sale-of-business and employment-based non-compete agreements in mental health industry.
• Personal Wealth Partners v. Kestra Insurance Services (D. Minn.) – Obtained denial of temporary injunction motion, then successfully dismissed case based on lack of personal jurisdiction.
• Duncan v. Allied Valve (Minn. Dist. Ct.) – Defeated motion for temporary restraining order in breach of confidentiality and trade secrets dispute.
• Marco Technologies v. Midkiff (Minn. Dist. Ct.) – Acted as justification opinion counsel for claim of tortious interference with restrictive covenant agreement.
• Cambria Company v. Mohawk Industries (D. Minn.) – Successfully opposed motion for preliminary injunction alleging inevitable disclosure of trade secrets and breach of contractual confidentiality provision.
• Prime Therapeutics v. Maxor National Pharmacy Services (D. Minn.) – Defeated injunction motion seeking to prevent high-level executive from becoming employed by competitor based on implementation of phased job duties negating alleged inevitable disclosure of trade secrets.
• C.H. Robinson Worldwide v. Tu (D. Minn.) – Defeated motion for judgment on the pleadings arguing unenforceability of restrictive covenant agreement.
• St. Jude Medical S.C. v. Suchomel (D. Minn.) – Defeated motion to dismiss term-of-years agreement as allegedly violating California public policy.
• PCM Sales v. [Employee] (C.D. Cal.) – Negotiated confidential settlement agreement, based on stolen trade secrets, requiring 10-month customer non-solicit for California employee.
• Nilfisk v. Liss (D. Minn.) – Obtained temporary restraining order prohibiting competing employment by former sales director employee.
• TelCom Construction v. MP Nexlevel (Minn. Dist. Ct.) – After replacing prior counsel, obtained vacatur of previously entered temporary injunction and obtained summary judgment on non-compete and tortious interference claims.
• Achieved multimillion-dollar settlement during three-week jury trial involving claims for breach of non-solicitation agreement, tortious interference, and misappropriation of trade secrets.

Business Litigation

• Management Registry v. A.W. (D. Minn.) – Obtained summary judgment against plaintiff’s breach of contract, unjust enrichment, duty of loyalty, malicious injury, and deceptive trade practices claims, and defeated plaintiff’s summary judgment motion on plaintiff’s conversion, civil theft, fraudulent inducement, tortious interference, and business defamation claims, after convincing court to reconsider prior summary judgment order.
• J. Swanson & Co. v. Rejuvenating Nutrition Coaching (D. Minn.) – Obtained sanctions against opposing counsel for multiple violations of protective order based on counsel’s use and disclosure of document after he was made aware of Defendants’ claim that document was privileged.
• Travel Leaders Leisure Group v. Cruise & Travel Experts (D. Minn.) – Obtained partial dismissal of complaint based on personal jurisdiction issues as to corporate and individual defendants.
• Untiedt’s Vegetable Farm v. Southern Impact (D. Minn.) – Obtained dismissal of breach of contract counterclaim as time-barred.
• Lakeview Behavior Health v. Itasca Medical Care (Minn. Dist. Ct.) – Defeated motion for temporary injunction on claim seeking to extend medical provider agreement, based on inability to show irreparable harm.
• PMT v. Fredrickson (Minn. Dist. Ct.) – Obtained six-figure sanctions award for discovery misconduct against opposing party and its counsel following two-day evidentiary hearing.

Employment Litigation

• Ruiz vs. Southwest Answering Service (C.D. Cal.) – Obtained summary judgment on plaintiff’s wrongful termination, discrimination, retaliation, and wage-and-hour claims.
• [Employee] v. [National Insurance Company] – Obtained summary judgment in multiple arbitrations on California employment and wage-and-hour claims.
• Sheeks v. CNH Industrial (D. Neb.) – Obtained partial summary judgment on FMLA retaliation claim.
• Adams v. Travelers Indemnity (C.D. Cal.) – Obtained order compelling arbitration on discrimination claims.
• Walls v. Kelly Services (D. Minn.) – Obtained dismissal and order to compel arbitration on plaintiff’s retaliatory discharge claims.
• Songa v. Sunrise Senior Living (D. Minn.) – Obtained summary judgment on plaintiff’s defamation, breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and discrimination claims.
• Rasmussen v. Jerry’s Enterprises (D. Minn.) – Obtained summary judgment in disability discrimination and Family and Medical Leave Act litigation.
• Hunnicutt v. CHF Solutions (N.D. Okla.) – Obtained dismissal of discrimination claim filed in contravention of mandatory forum selection clause.
• Represented multiple defendants in plaintiff and defendant class action involving social media recruiting advertisements.
• Represented national technology company in defense of race, gender, age, and disability claims by employees in New York, New Jersey, and California.
• Defended manufacturing client in nationwide putative class action alleging across-the-board age discrimination under Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
• Managed investigation of multiple members of executive team of national company involving whistleblower, harassment, and retaliation allegations.
• Defended client in putative class action alleging across-the-board age discrimination under Minnesota law.

Wage-and-Hour Litigation

• Reached favorable settlements on numerous California wage-and-hour class actions and PAGA representative actions.
• Achieved favorable settlement for Minnesota restaurant on tip-pooling class action after class members released individual claims.
• Reached nuisance value settlement with named plaintiff for Minnesota restaurant on tip-pooling class action after convincing plaintiff’s counsel of class allegations’ lack of merit.
• Represented national technology company in California, New York, and nationwide FLSA and state law hybrid action alleging meal and rest break, overtime, and derivative claims.
• Achieved favorable settlements for national restaurant chain in Minnesota, Illinois, and FLSA tip-sharing and unpaid overtime cases.
• Negotiated nuisance-value settlement in Florida off-the-clock wait staff class action.
• Represented national manufacturing company in California meal and rest break and off-the-clock case.
• Conducted company-wide wage-and-hour exemption classification audit of national medical device company. Investigated harassment claims leading to termination of company CEO.
• Obtained early pre-discovery resolution for national clothing retailer in California meal and rest break and off-the-clock cases.
• Defended national utility company in Minnesota off-the-clock case, obtaining favorable settlement days before trial.

Recognition and Honors

• Selected to Minnesota Super Lawyers (2024)
• Recognized by Best Lawyers®, 2021-2025, Litigation – Labor and Employment
• Labor & Employment Star, Benchmark Litigation
• MSBA North Star Lawyer, 2013, 2014 and 2016

Publications and Presentations

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