
Contact Information
Phone 317.777.7432
Fax 317.264.6832
Email
LinkedIn
Twitter
@HoosierHRLawyer
Education
- Ball State University, 2002 B.S
Honors: Summa cum laude - Indiana University McKinney School of Law, Indianapolis, 2005 J.D.
Honors: Magna cum laude
Bar Admissions
- Indiana
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Indiana
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Joseph C. Pettygrove, Partner
Joe leads the firm’s Employment Law Practice. He learned both client service and “workplace psychology” from his grandfather, uncles, and parents at an early age, as he grew up amidst a Hoosier family grocery business with a workforce of several hundred. That same experience gave Joe a special appreciation for the stress that employers and their managers confront when navigating the many different legal challenges posed by under-performing, ill, sad, angry, or other “challenging” employees. In his law practice, Joe has a particular passion for counseling employers through sensitive workplace investigations, employee medical issues, theft and embezzlement, workplace violence, and other employment challenges. He works with family- and other privately-owned businesses, non-profits, municipalities, and education clients where he both develops policies and practices and is their employment law “problem solver” on delicate employee matters. He counsels on all phases of the employment relationship, from recruiting and hire all the way through termination and unemployment claims. Joe regularly trains clients’ HR and supervisory teams on compliance issues and assists in personnel policy/process development, reorganizations, and reductions in force.
Joe also litigates the full spectrum of employment-law issues and has handled hundreds of cases before state and federal trial courts (both inside and outside Indiana), the EEOC, Indiana Civil Rights Commission, and other state, federal, and local agencies. Joe has defended discrimination claims of nearly every stripe, including those under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Title VII, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). He has also litigated restrictive covenants in employment, Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) claims, wage payment claims, and wrongful discharge actions. He is admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second, Third, and Seventh Circuits as well as the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Indiana and all Indiana state courts. He was recognized as a Rising Star by Indiana Super Lawyers from 2013 to 2020.
Joe grew up in Hamilton County and graduated from Cathedral High School in Indianapolis. He and his family reside in Westfield and are parishioners at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Indiana Federal Community Defenders and also served six years as a board member of Heritage Place of Indianapolis, Inc., a non-profit dedicated to providing home- and center-based services to area seniors.

- American Bar Association
- Indianapolis Bar Association
- Named to Best Lawyers list for 2023.
- Indiana Super Lawyers – Rising Star, Employment and Labor, 2013-2020.
- Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis, Academic Scholarship
- Phillip Correll Scholarship
- McPhee-Waterman Award
- Representing Hoosier Employers Before the EEOC
Indiana Continuing Legal Education Form, 2019 - Reducing and Responding to Unemployment Claims
Indiana Continuing Legal Education Form, 2019 - Documenting and Executing Employee Investigations, Discipline, and Discharge
American of Engineering Companies – Indiana Owners & Principals Summit, 2019 - Employment Law Training for Residential Care & Health Facility Administrators
Hoosier Owners & Providers for the Elderly RCA-HFA Course, 2019 - #MeToo Six Months In: Lessons Learned, Steps To Take, Missteps to Avoid for Hoosier Businesses
Northside Compliance Series Breakfast Roundtable - Employment Law: Counseling Businesses on Discrimination, Harassment, Severances Agreements, & the EEOC
Indiana Continuing Legal Education Form, 2018 - Challenges Associated with Enforcing Non-Competes
Indiana Continuing Legal Education Form, 2018 - Understanding Serious Health Conditions Under FMLA
Lorman Education Webinar, 2017 - Kosciusko Human Resources Association
Spring Training Multiple Topics, 2015-2017 - Proving “Just Cause”: Preparing to Successfully Protect Employees’ Unemployment Claims Before and After Discharge
20th Annual Indiana Chamber Employment Law Seminar, Indianapolis, 2014 - Employment Law Seminar
Indiana Chamber of Commerce, 2013 - Recent Developments in Employment Law
Indiana Continuing Legal Education Form, 2011 - Management’s Responsibilities Under EEO Law
Indiana Association for Persons in Supported Employment Annual State Conference, 2011 - The FMLA From A-Z: In Brief Form
2010-2016 - M. Lee Smith FMLA Master Class
Indianapolis, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2017
- LGBT Battle for Bathroom Access, Pronouns Pivots to Worker Suits Quoted in Bloomberg Law article July 19, 2022
- This Too Shall Pass…But When? Employer Medical Inquiries as a Pandemic Wanes Article in Best Lawyers All Rise newsletter, 2021
- 2021 Innovation Issue: Creating the post-pandemic workplace Interview with Indianapolis Business Journal, 2021
- Employment lawyers expect businesses to impose new restrictions on remote workers
Interview with the Indiana Lawyer, 2021 - Making the distinction: Labor Department proposes new test for defining independent contractors
Interview with the Indiana Lawyer, 2020 - In legal gray area, social media use may impact work life
Interview with the Indiana Lawyer, 2017 - Protecting Jobs From Protective Orders
Interview with The Indiana Lawyer, 2015 - The Supervisor’s Handbook
Editor, Indiana Chamber of Commerce, 2nd Edition, 2014 - Alcohol and Other Drugs in the Workplace
Editor, Chapter 23, Indiana Employment Law Handbook, Indiana Chamber of Commerce (9th-11th Ed.), 2012-2017 - Indiana Anti-Discrimination Laws
PLC Multistate Guides, Practical Law Company, 2012-2016 - New Indiana Criminal Records Law Could Affect Hiring Process
XpertHR.com, 2013 - Using Attendance Policies to Minimize Chronic Absenteeism at Work
HRHero.com, 2011 - Yes, No and Maybe: The Implications of a Federal Circuit Court Split Over Union-Friendly State and Local Neutrality Laws
23 Labor Lawyer 121, 2007 - Por que no habla usted ingles? Can You Institute an “English-only” Rule?
HR Insight, Vol. 4, No. 3, July 2007 - Canyons, Castles & Controversies: A Comparison of Preservation Laws in the United States and Ireland
4 Regent J. Int’l L. 47, 2006 - Indiana Employment Law Letter
Contributing Author, 2005-13