Scott Porter primarily focuses his practice on labor and employment litigation and counseling and the negotiating and drafting of employment and severance agreements. Before joining Taylor-Busch in 2007, Mr. Porter was an associate for three years with the labor & employment team of Powell Goldstein and served in-house for eight years as a Senior Employment Counsel for Turner Broadcasting System, Inc
At Turner, Mr. Porter negotiated and drafted executive and on-air talent agreements; provided advice with respect to contracts, policies, procedures, personnel decisions and internal investigations; ensured compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements (including ADA, FMLA, WARN, USERRA, and wage and hour laws and regulations); created and revised company-wide policies and procedures; and conducted training for supervisors and human resources employees, including helping to create and implement a company-wide harassment and respectful behavior training program. Mr. Porter was the primary employment counsel for CNN for much of his tenure at Turner.
Mr. Porter represented Turner and CNN in matters before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, including investigating charges of discrimination and preparing position statements in defense of such charges. Mr. Porter also oversaw employment-related litigation, including cases involving claims of sex discrimination, age discrimination, national origin discrimination, retaliation, and violations of the Equal Pay Act.
In private practice, Mr. Porter has extensive experience counseling corporate clients concerning day-to-day employment issues such as advising clients regarding hiring, discipline, firing, reductions-in-force, disability accommodations, and requests for leave; preparing employment agreements, restrictive covenants, separation agreements, employee handbooks, supervisors' manuals, and various employment policies; conducting sexual harassment investigations; and conducting equal employment opportunity and sexual harassment training seminars.
Mr. Porter has also represented employers successfully in a wide variety of employment and other litigation matters in state and federal courts and administrative agencies in Georgia and throughout the country. These matters include cases involving state and federal discrimination statutes (including harassment claims), employment related state law torts, breach of contract, tortious interference with contractual and business relationships, and unfair labor practice claims.