Katharine O. Beattie is a partner and litigation lawyer with Foley & Lardner LLP and a member of the Labor & Employment Practice Group.
Kate’s work primarily involves litigation and counseling on federal and state labor and employment matters, including issues involving discrimination and harassment, leaves of absence, wage and hour disputes on an individual and class-wide basis, employee classification, wrongful termination, trade secret protection, and the enforcement of noncompetition and nondisclosure agreements. She handles employment litigation before federal and state courts, arbitrators, and administrative agencies, including state fair employment and human rights agencies. Kate has also represented clients in cases pertaining to the False Claims Act, insider trading, and shareholder disputes.
Kate counsels clients on a wide variety of employment issues, such as leaves of absence, independent contractor and employee classification, wage and hour law compliance, reasonable accommodation for disabled employees, employee discipline and termination, and the protection of trade secrets and confidential information. She conducts internal investigations of harassment and discrimination claims, wage and hour compliance issues, whistleblower claims, and allegations of ethics and code of conduct violations. She also provides training on anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies and procedures as well as effective management practices.
Kate frequently provides employment and labor guidance on corporate merger and acquisition transactions, and regularly negotiates and drafts executive employment, separation, and related agreements on behalf of both publicly and privately held companies.
In her labor practice, she advises clients on a range of collective bargaining issues, and represents clients before the National Labor Relations Board with respect to unfair labor practice charges and union election proceedings.
Kate was vice president, Employment & Litigation Counsel at NTT DATA, Inc., where she was responsible for legal matters in North America and India. In this role, Kate managed commercial and employment litigation, provided human resources and business executives with employment law advice and counseling on all aspects of employment law, handled internal investigations, training, and compliance, and supported all phases of corporate merger and acquisition transactions.
In law school, Kate served as a special assistant attorney general in the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General’s Office, where she represented state agencies before state courts. Her experience also includes four years as a legislative aide in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
