Katherine L. Porter

Katie Porter represents private and public employers and helps emerging companies establish and maintain all aspects of their employment policies and practices.  She regularly provides advice and counsel to multistate clients on emerging and complex employment issues.  Katie conducts workplace investigations and assists the firm’s corporate group on employment aspects of corporate transactions.  She also advises independent schools on legal issues impacting students and assists with school investigations.

Katie’s experience includes:

Advice & Counsel

• Drafting and advising on employment-related agreements – employment, separation, transition, consulting/independent contractor, restrictive covenant, shared services, employee leasing, authorized deductions, advance, commission and bonus agreements.
• Counseling clients through complicated employment issues -  accommodation requests (disability, pregnancy and sincerely held religious beliefs), leave requests, misclassification claims and whistleblower complaints.
• Drafting and advising on employment policies – employee handbooks/manuals, state-specific policies.
• Advising on wage and hour and equal pay compliance.
• Counseling clients on layoffs and restructurings.
• Defending clients before federal and state administrative agencies – including the EEOC, OSHA, DOL, MHRC, MCAD, NYCHR, NYSDHR, FCHR and CHRO – and in mediation.  
• Advising executives on restrictive covenants (non-competition and non-solicitation provisions), separation strategies and employment agreements.
• Training employees on various employment laws and their obligations and rights under applicable law. 

Investigations

• Advising clients on internal workplace investigations and independent school investigations.
• Conducting investigations – interview witnesses, reviewing relevant documentation, fact-finding and writing investigation reports and findings.
• Training Human Resources on how to conduct workplace investigations.

Corporate Transactions

• Conducting diligence of employment documentation for corporate transactions (buy-side and sell-side).
• Drafting related employment or separation documentation.
• Advising on employment representations and warranties, indemnification and other employment-related provisions in APAs, SPAs and EPAs.