Katherine Rollins

Top rated Employment & Labor attorney in Minneapolis, Minnesota

MacDonald Hoague & Bayless
Katherine Rollins
MacDonald Hoague & Bayless

Practice areas: Employment & Labor, Civil Rights, Employment Litigation

Licensed in Minnesota since: 2021

Education: Mitchell Hamline School of Law

Selected to Rising Stars: 2025 - 2026

MacDonald Hoague & Bayless

801 S Marquette Ave
Suite 200
Minneapolis, MN 55402 Phone: 612-808-9660 Email: Katherine Rollins Visit website
Details

Born in Minneapolis and raised in Pullman, Washington, Katherine E. Rollins is a passionate and assertive advocate for employee and civil rights. Katy’s empathetic nature, stemming from her passion for working with people and background in the hospitality industry, allows her to deeply understand her clients’ situations.

While in law school, Katy honed her legal skills working in various clinic programs, including the Health Law Clinic and with the Office of the Minnesota Appellate Public Defender. Katy is motivated to practice employment law as a way to advocate for individuals facing workplace discrimination, rights violations and empower workers to fight for more equitable and inclusive organizations. She finds gratification in being able to help expand employee protections and deliver resolutions to her clients, however that might come.

In her free time, Katy is a member of the legislative committee for the Minnesota chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association. There, she has the opportunity to expand workers’ rights legislatively, outside of work for her clients. When Katy is not advocating on behalf of employees, you can find her scoping out the best taco trucks, cheering on the Twins, or going to see some of her favorite artists, like St. Vincent, Sir Chloe, and Emotional Oranges, in concert!

First Admitted: 2021, Minnesota

Professional Webpage: https://www.wantathome.com/our-team/katherine-e-rollins/

Bar / Professional Activity

  • Minnesota State Bar Association, Labor & Employment Law Section, 2021
  • Federal Bar Association, Minnesota Chapter
  • Minnesota Women Lawyers
  • National Lawyers Guild, Labor & Employment
  • National Lawyers Guild, Housing Committee
  • Hennepin County Bar Association

Verdicts / Settlements (Case Results)

  • Counsel in Delgado v. Bemidji State University, No. 04-CV-23-890 (Minn. Dist. Ct. Jan. 8, 2024) (Defendant’s motion for summary judgment denied), 2024
  • Counsel in Santos v. Bemidji State University, No. 04-CV-23-1668 (Minn. Dist. Ct. Jan. 8, 2024) (Defendant’s motion for summary judgment denied), 2024
  • Counsel in Unbehaun v. Minnesota Energy Resources Corporation, No. 23-CV-1145 (NEB/DTS) (D. Minn. June 5, 2024) (Defendant’s motion for judgment on pleadings denied in substantial part), 2024
  • Counsel in Malimage v. AvePoint, No. 22-cv-2990 (WMW/ECW) (D. Minn. July 18, 2023) (Defendant’s partial motion to dismiss denied), 2023

Educational Background

  • Mitchell Hamline School of Law, St. Paul, MN, J.D., summa cum laude, 2018-2021
  • Washington State University, Honors College, B.A. in Hospitality Business Management, 2011-2015

Scholarly Lectures / Writings

  • As most anti-discrimination laws only protect employees, companies are often able to avoid liability for discrimination against independent contractors. Applying the “business discrimination” section of the MHRA to independent contractors allows these important workers to hold companies liable. In the article, Katy discusses how the section is traditionally used in case law and how it may apply to independent contractors. She goes on to discuss the outcomes of two Minnesota court cases brought by independent contractors alleging discrimination under this provision of the MHRA, Author, Protecting Gig Workers and Independent Contractors Under the MHRA., Minnesota Bench and Bar, 2022
  • April Employment Law Sectional Dazed and confused about how cannabis is treated under Minnesota's Drug and Alcohol Testing in the Workplace Act (DATWA)? Wondering if employers can weed out cannabis-using job applicants and employees? This CLE will discuss employers' obligations and employees' rights under DATWA, the Lawful Consumable Products Act, the THC Therapeutic Research Act, the Minnesota Human Rights Act, and more.Speakers: Katherine Rollins & Daniel Olson Katy Rollins, an attorney at Wanta Thome PLC, advocates on behalf of employees who’ve faced unlawful discrimination, retaliation, and harassment. While attending Mitchell Hamline School of Law, Katy honed her legal skills working in various clinic programs, including the Health Law Clinic and with the Office of the Minnesota Appellate Public Defender. She also worked as an Articles Editor for the Mitchell Hamline Law Review., Presenter, Getting Into The Weed(s):An Employment Law Perspective on Legal Cannabis in Minnesota., Minnesota Paralegal Association, 2024
  • Tricky Ethics Questions in Employment Settlement Agreements, Presenter, Tricky Ethics Questions in Employment Settlement Agreements., 2023 Upper Midwest Employment Law Institute, 2023
  • Ethical Considerations in Workers’ Compensation Settlements, Panelist, Ethical Considerations in Workers’ Compensation Settlements, Minnesota Association for Justice, 2024
  • Almost forty years since the move towards deinstitutionalization, the debate regarding how to best serve those with mental illness continues. After the campaign for deinstitutionalization began in the 1980s, a number of individuals with mental illness lived on the street after their release from state psychiatric hospitals with nowhere else to go. To this day, unhoused, mentally ill individuals recently released from hospitalization are more likely to utilize emergency health services and homeless shelters, face an increased risk of assault, and are often subject to incarceration., Author, The Need for Early and Continuing Mental Health Treatment as shown by the COVID-19 Pandemic., Mitchell Hamline Journal of Public Policy & Practice: The Quadriga, 2021

Honors

  • Burton Award for Excellence in Legal Writing, Mitchell Hamline School of Law, 2018

Office location for Katherine Rollins

801 S Marquette Ave
Suite 200
Minneapolis, MN 55402

Selections

2 Years Rising Stars
  • Rising Stars: 2025 - 2026

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