Heidi’s practice focuses on a wide range of education and employment-related issues, and Heidi defends employers and educational institutions facing litigation in both federal and state court. Heidi also counsels employers on compliance with various federal and state laws and regulations, including Title VII, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Virginia Human Rights Act.
In addition, Heidi advises both public and private educational institutions on a variety of issues, including Title IX, Title VI, FERPA and privacy issues, tenure denial and revocation, Department of Education and/or Office of Civil Rights investigations, athletics compliance, contract negotiation and management, and faculty and student conduct matters.
Heidi also has experience advising clients on data privacy and intellectual property issues, and uses this experience to assist employers with matters such as ownership of intellectual property, licensing, trade secret protection, restrictive covenants, non-disclosure, and data rights.
Before joining McGuireWoods, Heidi clerked for the Honorable Robert E. Payne, United States District Judge of the Eastern District of Virginia. She also completed a judicial internship with the Honorable David J. Novak, United States Magistrate Judge of the Eastern District of Virginia.
Heidi earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia, where she served on the editorial board of the Virginia Law & Business Review.
Experience
- Won summary judgment for a national bank in a case alleging violations of employment-related background check provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and California law.
- Secured the dismissal of a lawsuit brought against a private university alleging violations of Title IX, breach of contract and numerous tort claims; the Fourth Circuit affirmed.
- Obtained injunctive relief in Delaware state court to stop the raiding of a client’s employees in violation of non-solicitation agreement.
- Secured dismissal of a lawsuit against a home appliance company alleging breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets and numerous related torts.
- Representation of a school board and superintendent in a lawsuit alleging defamation and violation of the First Amendment.
- Representation of numerous clients across industries, including retail, technology, food, insurance, engineering and pharmaceutical in prosecuting and defending against enforcement of restrictive covenants.
- Prosecution of and assistance with tenure revocation proceedings for public and private universities.
- Representation of clients (both as plaintiffs and defendants) in trade secrets misappropriation litigation.
- Representation of charter schools in litigation regarding breaches of charter contracts.
- Defense of financial institutions in cases (both individual and class actions) alleging violations of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Credit Billing Act, the Truth in Lending Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
- Representation and defense of various clients in senior executive-level investigations.
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University of Virginia School of LawJD
Order of the Coif
2015 -
The College of William & MaryBSMathematics, minor in Psychology
magna cum laude
2012
Selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch, Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Labor and Employment, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025
Selected for inclusion in “Legal 500 United States,” Education; Intellectual property: trade secrets (litigation and noncontentious matters), 2024
Named to “Leaders in the Law,” Virginia Lawyers Weekly, 2022
- Author, Eleventh Circuit Addresses Implied Right of Action Under Title IX for Employees’ Sex Discrimination Claims, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, November 19, 2024
- Author, NLRB Issues Guidance for Academic Institutions on Labor and Privacy Laws, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, August 22, 2024
- Author, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Townstone Financial, Inc., Class Action Countermeasures, July 22, 2024
- Author, Fourth Circuit: School’s 501(c)(3) Status Does Not Constitute Federal Financial Assistance for Title IX Purposes, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, March 29, 2024
- Author, Education Institutions Grapple With Overlap of First Amendment and Anti-Discrimination Laws, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, March 15, 2024
- Author, A New Frontier for ERISA Fee Suits: Group Health Plans, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, March 11, 2024
- Author, Lessons From Wood Group’s Success in ERISA Defense Over Target-Date Funds, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, March 7, 2024
- Author, Virginia Increases Earnings Threshold for Prohibition on Non-Competes for “Low Wage Employees”, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, January 24, 2024
- Author, Sovereign Immunity Available in Virginia Human Rights Act Cases, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, October 4, 2023
- Author, For What It’s Worth: The Increasing Importance of a Trade Secret’s Independent Economic Value, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, August 8, 2023
- Author, College Legacy Admission Preferences Called Into Question in New Challenge, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, July 6, 2023
- Author, Virginia Court Holds School Board Immune From Virginia Human Rights Act Claims, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, June 27, 2023
- Author, Tenure Elimination Gains Traction in Texas, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, May 9, 2023
- Author, Employee Termination Lessons After 4th Circ Bias Case, Law360, May 5, 2023
- Author, Employers Face Six-Year Statute of Limitations for Criminal Background Check Claims, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, February 1, 2023
- Author, Recent Court Opinions Suggest Independent Schools May Be Subject to Title IX, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, August 10, 2022
- Author, How to “Commence” an FLSA Lawsuit: More Than Meets the Eye, Class Action Countermeasures, August 10, 2021
- Author, Virginia Adopts Permanent COVID-19 Safety Standards for Employers, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, February 3, 2021
- Author, Title IX Updates Part 2: Informal Resolution, Investigations and Training, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, June 11, 2020
- Author, Title IX Updates: What’s New and What You Need to Do About It (Part 1), McGuireWoods Legal Alert, May 27, 2020
- Author, Virginia Enacts New “Wage Theft Law,” Creating Private Right of Action for Unpaid Wages, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, April 28, 2020
- Author, Virginia Adds Legal Provisions to Combat Worker Misclassification, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, April 27, 2020
- Author, Avoiding Employee Complaints and OSHA Inspections When Reopening the Workplace, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, April 24, 2020
- Author, Virginia Continues Sweeping Employment Reforms, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, April 23, 2020
- Author, Virginia Adds LGBTQ Protections to Anti-Discrimination Law, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, April 14, 2020
- Author, In the Wake of the CARES Act, States Focus on Consumer Credit Protection, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, April 10, 2020
- Author, CFPB Adopts “Flexible Approach” to FCRA Enforcement in COVID Era — Will Courts Do the Same?, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, April 3, 2020
- Author, New York Mandates Closure of “Non-Essential Businesses” to Slow COVID-19 Spread, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, March 23, 2020
- Author, COVID-19: With Students Safely Home, What’s Next for Educational Institutions?, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, March 23, 2020
- Author, OSHA Issues New COVID-19 Preparedness Guidance for Employers, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, March 12, 2020
- Author, California Court of Appeals Joins FCRA’s Mad Tea Party, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, April 24, 2019
- Author, Hyper-Technical Interpretation: 9th Circuit Increases FCRA Reach, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, February 1, 2019
- Author, CFPB Updates Summary of Rights Under Fair Credit Reporting Act, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, October 5, 2018
- Author, 7th Circuit Allies With FCRA Class Action Plaintiffs on Spokeo Grounds, Class Action Countermeasures, September 26, 2018
- Author, Warner White Paper Floats Far-Ranging Data Privacy Proposals, Password Protected, September 6, 2018
- Author, After 10 Years, Massachusetts Takes the Non-Compete Plunge, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, August 20, 2018
- Author, Trump Privacy Rollback Continues, States Step Up, Password Protected, April 19, 2017
- Virginia
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia
- Speaker, "Can’t We Just Get Along? Political Speech and Social Activism in the Nonprofit Workplace," 21st Annual Nonprofit Seminar, October 2024
- Speaker, Navigating the New Title IX Regulations, June 12, 2024
- Presenter, "The Challenges of Compliance: Preparing for the Latest Title IX Regulations," Career Education Colleges and Universities, May 29, 2024
- Speaker, "Department of Labor Independent Contractor Rules," Controllers Executive Roundtable, May 10, 2024
- Speaker, "The Latest Developments on Noncompete Agreements and the Federal Trade Commission’s Proposal to Ban Noncompete Agreements," 33rd Annual Employment Law Update Seminar, Virginia CLE, May 7, 2024
- Speaker, "Animal, Vegetable, Employee, or Contractor? New Federal Independent Contractor Tests for 2023," 20th Annual Nonprofit Seminar, September 2023
- Speaker, K-12 Employment Issues, March 15, 2023
- Speaker, "Social Media and Data," Protect Your Brand and Advance Your Marketing Strategies, February 28, 2018
- Hon. Robert E. Payne, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, 2015-2016