Workplace Solutions.
Legal Excellence.

Unparalleled experience and expertise in the workplace.

Practice Areas

FortneyScott’s practice focuses on the workplace. Our broad-based experience and expertise enable us to provide efficient counsel and advice on a wide range of workplace-related matters.

What’s New

OFCCP – Corporate Scheduling Announcement Lists

September 11, 2020/in FortneyScott News, FS

OFCCP posted its FY 2020 Corporate Scheduling Announcement Lists for Supply & Service contractors and Construction contractors earlier today. Both lists are available on OFCCP’s FOIA Library HERE.

Notably, as promised by the Agency last year, institutes of higher education are heavily represented on the Supply & Service list.

All federal contractors should review these lists promptly. Inclusion on either list means that all facilities listed will undergo a compliance review in the Agency’s next compliance cycle. Please contact FortneyScott to ensure that your facilities are well prepared for their upcoming evaluations.

FortneyScott’s September 21st Employer Briefing: “Key Issues Employers Are Facing Now”

September 11, 2020/in Events, FortneyScott News, FS

REGISTER HERE to join FortneyScott’s complimentary Employer Briefing on Monday, September 21st from noon to 1:00 pm ET.

In this briefing we will address (1) the latest developments affecting employers as businesses re-open during the COVID pandemic; (2) current challenges employers are facing as part of the heightened focus on inequality in America; and, (3) the key legal and federal agency developments.

FortneyScott’s attorneys will cover:

Problems confronting employers and workers as they slowly return to pre-COVID 19 activities while Congress fails to provide assistance;
Corporate responses to BLM protests and the Trump Administration’s counter to anti-racism and affirmative action; and,
Important legal and agency developments, including the most recent Executive Order for federal contractors, and the latest developments involving EEOC and DOL’s agencies, including the Wage and Hour Division, OSHA and OFCCP.

If you have any questions that you would like to have addressed during the Weekly Briefing, please submit via email to info@fortneyscott.com.

We look forward to continuing our briefings, and assisting our clients and all who are interested in understanding the latest developments affecting the workplace.

For more information:

On responding to the COVID workplace challenges, including all prior Weekly Briefings, visit FortneyScott’s resource center.
Also, every person on our team joined in a special message addressing the recent incidents of violence, racism, and intolerance taking place in communities across America, and expressed our support for changes to achieve equal opportunity for all members of our society.
Please email us at info@fortneyscott.com for legal advice and human resources support in understanding how these developments affect your company and workplace compliance programs.

Please forward this information to those in your organization who could benefit from these Weekly Briefings.

Back to School Webinar: Higher Education Post-COVID-19 Legal & Compliance Concerns

August 5, 2020/in Events, FortneyScott News

Please REGISTER HERE to join FortneyScott and the Novus Law Firm on Wednesday, August 12 at 9:00am PST/12:00pm EST for the third in a series of webinars discussing the myriad of legal and compliance challenges that institutes of higher education face in reopening their campuses and resuming operations for the 2020 Fall term.

You asked, and we listened.

In this third session, Natasha Baker, Esq. and Elizabeth Bradley, Esq. will lead an interactive live Q & A session covering the myriad of return to campus consideration including schedule and compensation modifications; COVID-19 and ADA accommodations; privacy law issue; and the interplay of shared governance. These panelists, with their extensive experience in higher education law, will provide thoughtful recommendations and legal perspectives.

During this third session, the panelists will provide an update on the following topics then open up the session to live questions and discussion:

Responding to and administering disability and protected leave requests by faculty and staff including the criteria and processes that the institution should resolve in advance;
Administering discretionary workplace modifications;
Best practices with respect to protecting the privacy of faculty and staff who request accommodations, contract COVID-19, or expose others;
Addressing where privacy laws and disclosure requirements intersect, including Clery notifications.

We encourage you to submit questions that you would like to have addressed during the webinar via email to info@fortneyscott.com.

Please forward this information to those in your organization who could benefit.

Supreme Court Broadens “Ministerial Exception”

July 9, 2020/in FortneyScott News

In a widely anticipated ruling, the Supreme Court held that religious institutions have expansive authority in employing teachers who had a role in providing any form of religious instruction or observance.

In Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrisey-Berru, the Court made clear that that federal employment discrimination laws do not apply to teachers at church-run schools whose duties include religious instruction. Justice Alito, basing his reasoning on the First Amendment’s protection of religious freedom, wrote:

When a school with a religious mission entrusts a teacher with the responsibility of educating and forming students in the faith, judicial intervention into disputes between the school and the teacher threatens the school’s independence in a way that the First Amendment does not allow.

The Court, in a 7-2 decision, emphasized that the title or training of the teacher were not determinative, rather, it is the actual duties of the individual teacher that defined who could enjoy the “ministerial exception.” By making that point, the Court broadly expanded the number of teachers who no longer have the protections of Title VII and other employment discrimination laws. Many commentators believe this ruling will encourage those challenging the Court’s recent ruling expanding Title VII protections to LGBTQ workers to bring lawsuits based on religious freedom grounds.

About Us

Meet Our Attorneys

Jacqueline R. Scott

Co-Founder

Ms. Scott is a co-founder of FortneyScott, where her diverse practice focuses on business, international, and workplace matters. She counsels foreign-based clients on complying with U.S. workplace ...

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David S. Fortney

Co-Founder

Mr. Fortney is a co-founder of Fortney & Scott, LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based law firm counseling and advising clients on the full spectrum of work-place related matters, including employment discrimi ...

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H. Juanita Beecher

Counsel

Nita Beecher is a nationally-recognized expert on Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) matters. She is Counsel to Fortne ...

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Elizabeth B. Bradley

Shareholder

Elizabeth B. Bradley has over fifteen years of experience representing employers and federal contractors in litigation and mediation matters before state and federal agencies and courts, as well a ...

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John D. Clifford

Associate

John Clifford is an Associate at FortneyScott. He assists clients with a variety of workplace-related matters, including employment discrimination, compensation and leave issues, and other emplo ...

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Burton J. Fishman

Senior Counsel

Mr. Fishman has devoted his practice to developing the "law of the workplace," an interdisciplinary approach that offers employers counsel and representation on a broad range of matters growing ou ...

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Consuela A. Pinto

Shareholder

Consuela A. Pinto is a Shareholder at FortneyScott where she advises clients on the full range of equal employment opportunity laws with a particular focus on compliance with workplace laws and re ...

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Leslie E. Silverman

Shareholder

Leslie E. Silverman is a shareholder at Fortney & Scott, LLC where she counsels and advises clients on complying with workplace laws, dealing with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, othe ...

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Workplace Solutions.
Legal Excellence.

Practice Areas

Practice Areas

What’s New

OFCCP – Corporate Scheduling Announcement Lists

FortneyScott’s September 21st Employer Briefing: “Key Issues Employers Are Facing Now”

Back to School Webinar: Higher Education Post-COVID-19 Legal & Compliance Concerns

Supreme Court Broadens “Ministerial Exception”