Lauren E. Fisher White

Lauren Fisher White is a partner in the firm’s Labor and Employment and Litigation practice groups. She counsels clients on the enforceability of restrictive covenants, disciplinary decisions, and employee handbooks, and equips them with the language tailored to achieve the results they desire, based on business needs. She assists clients with employment and personnel matters including implementation and adherence to state and federal laws governing the workplace, and the investigation and response to harassment, interference, discrimination, and retaliation complaints.

Since the onset of the COVID pandemic, Ms. Fisher White has spent significant time advising public and private entities seeking to protect their workforce and their business. This counsel includes vaccine mandate and exemption request strategies and policies, and guiding employers and human resource professionals through Virginia Department of Labor and Industry audits and whistleblower complaints. She also monitors evolving, and often overlapping, COVID-related legislation and regulation to distill the specific implications for her clients.

Ms. Fisher White also has extensive employment litigation experience, representing her clients in matters ranging from discrimination defense to the enforcement of non-competes. As part of the Litigation practice group, Ms. Fisher White brings her experience resolving complex employment disputes to a broader range of matters, assisting clients with contract and business tort litigation as well as general litigation.

PRACTICE AREAS
Employment Issues and Executive Agreements
Non-Competition and Trade Secrets
Trials / Appeals / Alternative Dispute Resolution

ADMISSIONS
• Virginia
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• U.S. Supreme Court

Representative Matters
• Advised employers on complex issues such as harassment and discrimination claims, leave under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Family and Medical Leave Act(FMLA), worker misclassification, and pay equity.
• Counseled clients on the enforceability of restrictive covenants, such as non-competition, non-solicitation, confidentiality, and trade secret clauses, and represented clients in negotiation and litigation involving such covenants.
• Guided employers through COVID-related regulations, including vaccine mandates, exemption requests, and Virginia Department of Labor and Industry audits and whistleblower complaints.
• Provided strategic guidance to clients regarding key employee issues, such as workforce reorganizations and the development of wellness and diversity, equity, and inclusions programs.
• Prepared employment agreements, independent contractor agreements, severance agreements, settlement agreements, and employment handbooks.
• Served as counsel to boards of directors in connection with internal investigations and removal of executive personnel.
• Assisted clients with creation and implementation of social media and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies.
• Advised employers concerning the investigation of and response to data breaches.
• Represented employers before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Virginia Employment Commission, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights, the Department of Labor, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, and the National Labor Relations Board.
• Mediated employment law disputes before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, private mediators and federal magistrate judges.
• Served as lead counsel in federal court litigation arising under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the ADA, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the FMLA, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
• Negotiated employee/independent contractor misclassification disputes with the Virginia Employment Commission and Department of Labor and negotiated back wage/tax repayment plans.
• Regularly advises institutions of higher education regarding faculty, student, administrative and compliance matters, including Title IX compliance and university and faculty policies and procedures.

Washington & Lee University, J.D., 2010
Cum Laude 
Managing Editor, Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice
Roger D. Groot Scholarship Recipient

Vanderbilt University, B.A., English and Psychology, 2006
Magna Cum Laude 

SELECT PRESENTATIONS
• Presenter, “Impact of COVID-19 on the Workplace: 2021 Update,” Virginia Association of Personal Care Providers, October 2021
• Presenter, “Employer Hindsight is 20/20: Employment Law Risks in the New Decade,” Onsite Program for Builders’ Exchange Association of Virginia, February 2020
• Presenter, “The Effect of ‘#MeToo’ and ‘Time’s Up’ in Discrimination Litigation,” Mission Possible: Winning Strategies for Litigation Management, The Trial Network, November 2019
• Co-presenter, “Off-Duty Conduct and Unlawful Discrimination,” Onsite Program for Client, November 2019
• Presenter, “Employment Law 101: An Intensive Course for Managers and Supervisors,” Onsite Program for Client, October 2019
• Presenter, “The Effect of ‘#MeToo’ and ‘Time’s Up’ in Discrimination Litigation,” Litigation Management in a New York Minute-2019 Edition, The Trial Network, August 2019
• Presenter, “Employment Law in Health Care Transactions,” Virginia Bar Association’s 14th Annual Health Care Practitioners’ Roundtable, October 2018
• Panelist, “EEOC Investigations,” Virginia Bar Association’s 48th Annual Conference on Labor and Employment Law, October 2018

SELECT PUBLICATIONS
• “Damages Under the Virginia Uniform Trade Secret Act After Collelo,” Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Journal, Volume 24, Number 1, 2012
• “The Perils of Employer-Provided Technology: Employer Inaction and the Attorney-Client Privilege,” Virginia Lawyer Magazine, June/July 2011
• A Miscarriage of Justice: Pregnancy Discrimination in Sectarian Schools, 16 Wash. & Lee J. Civ. Rts. & Soc. Just. 529 (2010)