Kate Mueting

Kate Mueting is the Firm Administrative Partner, Co-Chair of the firm’s Discrimination and Harassment Practice Group, and Co-Chair of the firm’s Executive Representation Practice Group.

At Sanford Heisler Sharp, Kate’s practice has focused on discrimination, harassment, and retaliation matters, representing individuals and classes. In 2023, Kate filed a class action lawsuit against Twitter and Elon Musk for failing to provide promised severance benefits owed to terminated employees, and for failing to communicate accurately and truthfully with employees about the severance plan benefits, in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

Kate’s representations have included:

• Litigating on behalf of a class and collective action of accounting and consulting professionals, culminating in a $10 million court-approved settlement agreement with KPMG, LLP
• Negotiating a confidential seven-figure exit package for a female equity partner with race, gender, and retaliation claims against an international law firm
• Renegotiating a non-compete agreement for a company president
• Engaging an expert witness to value for stock options in a pre-IPO tech start-up and negotiating a severance accounting for the options
• Obtaining paid maternity leave for an executive after an employer denied it, assuming she would not return to work after having a child
• Negotiating multiyear severance for senior vice president prevented from advancing any further
• Persuading the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to issue numerous findings of discrimination, including one for pay discrimination against a medical device company and another for race discrimination on behalf of a non-profit executive

Kate received her law degree with Highest Honors from the University of Iowa College of Law and her Bachelor of Journalism with Highest Distinction from the University of Nebraska. While at the University of Iowa, Kate was Senior Articles Editor for the Iowa Law Review. Her volunteerism in law school earned her a Boyd Service Award.

Kate is a member of the District of Columbia, Iowa (inactive), and Minnesota (inactive) bars. Kate has authored and been quoted in articles that have appeared in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Fast Company, Law360, and other publications. She has presented internationally at numerous conferences, law schools, and law firms on a broad range of topics that include gender and pregnancy discrimination, gender pay gaps in professional services firms, maternal walls, professional development and career advancement, bias in the legal profession, diversity and inclusion, employee privacy rights, mediations, and class and collective actions. Kate is an adjunct professor at the University of Iowa College of Law and a co-chair of the Women’s Bar Association. She is a member of the Legal Network for Gender Equity, the National Women’s Law Center’s Leadership Advisory Committee, the Advisory Board for the Center of Labor & Employment Law at NYU School of Law, and the International Forum of Senior Executive Advisers.

Before joining Sanford Heisler Sharp, Kate completed clerkships for the Honorable Michael J. Melloy of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and for the Honorable Richard J. Leon of the District Court for the District of Columbia. Kate has also worked as a lawyer with Covington & Burling and DC’s Children’s Law Center and as a Team Leader with AmeriCorps.

Since joining Sanford Heisler Sharp, Kate has been recognized by U.S. News as among the “Best Lawyers” in America for representing individuals in employment law. She has also been among a handful of employment lawyers nationwide honored as a “Rising Star” by Law360 in 2019, and the National Law Journal recognized her as one of Washington, DC’s Rising Stars in 2017. The Profiles in Diversity Journal also recently recognized her as among its Women Worth Watching in Leadership. The District of Columbia Women’s Bar Association also awarded Kate with the Mussey-Gillet Shining Star Award in 2018, which recognizes one member each year who makes extraordinary contributions to the organization.