Kate Mueting
Top rated Employment Litigation attorney in Washington, Washington DC
Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, LLP
Practice Areas: Employment Litigation, Civil Rights, Employment & Labor; view more
Licensed in Washington DC since: 2010
Education: The University of Iowa College of Law
Call today:
202-221-4003


Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, LLP
700 Pennsylvania Ave. SESuite 300
Washington, DC 20003 Visit website
Details
Kate Mueting is the Firm Administrative Partner at Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, LLP, where she also serves as Co-Chair of the firm’s Discrimination and Harassment Practice Group and Co-Chair of the firm’s Executive Representation Practice Group.
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 McKnight, LLP, 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 McKnight, LLP, 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.
Practice areas
Employment Litigation: Plaintiff, Civil Rights, Employment & Labor: EmployeeFocus areas
Discrimination, Employment Discrimination, Sexual Harassment
- 60% Employment Litigation: Plaintiff
- 20% Civil Rights
- 20% Employment & Labor: Employee
First Admitted: 2007, Iowa
Professional Webpage: https://www.sanfordheisler.com/team/kate-mueting/
District of Columbia
, 2010U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Supreme Court of the United States
- Was co-counsel for the class plaintiffs in Fogg v. Garland, which in September 2023 received preliminary approval for a $15 million settlement to resolve a nearly 30-year-long racial discrimination complaint against the U.S. Marshals Service ("USMS"). The complaint, originally filed in 1994, alleged that the USMS discriminated against African Americans in its promotions, recruitment, and hiring policies for Deputy U.S. Marshals positions. Fogg v. Garland overcame numerous legal hurdles and appeals to win class certification from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”). The class encompasses all past, current, and prospective African American Deputy U.S. Marshals from January 23, 1994, through the present. As part of the settlement, the USMS agreed to institute significant programmatic reforms to its hiring practices. , 2023
- Representing plaintiff class in McMillan v. X Corp., et al. in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The Complaint was filed on behalf of a class of thousands of employees who were subject to the mass layoffs that Elon Musk initiated shortly after taking over Twitter on October 27, 2022. The terminated employees were denied promised severance benefits. The lawsuit alleges that Mr. Musk and others failed to communicate accurately and truthfully with employees about the severance plan benefits, in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)., 2024
- The award "recognizes the dynamic women who are using their talents and influence to enhance your workplace and change our world.", Profiles in Diversity Journal Women Worth Watching in Leadership Award, Profiles in Diversity Journal, 2021
- From Lawdragon: "These amazing lawyers make it their life’s work to stand up for others who are denied equal treatment, fired, harassed or marginalized in their jobs; shot and killed or subjected to lesser mistreatment by law enforcement or others in position of authority; and sexually abused and violated by those in positions of responsibility.", Lawdragon 500 Leading Civil Rights & Plaintiff Employment Lawyers, Lawdragon, 2023
- Ms. Mueting has been recognized by Benchmark Litigation as a "Labor & Employment Star" in each of the jurisdictions listed above., Benchmark Litigation Labor & Employment Star - USA, District of Columbia, Northeast, Benchmark Litigation, 2024
- Best Lawyer, Best Lawyers in America, 2021
- Labor & Employment Star - Northeast, Benchmark Litigation, 2020
- Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Employment Lawyer, Lawdragon, 2020
- Rising Star, Law360, 2019
- Labor & Employment Star - Northeast in the practice area of Labor & Employment, Benchmark Litigation, 2019
- Labor & Employment Star - Northeast in the practice area of Labor & Employment, Benchmark Litigation, 2018
- Mussey-Gillett Shining Star Award, District of Columbia Women’s Bar Association, 2018
- DC Rising Star, National Law Journal, 2017
- University of Nebraska, Bachelor of Journalism with Highest Distinction, 2002
- Legal analysis on the topic of employers using algorithms in hiring and recruitment to screen for "cultural fit." The article considers how the use of these algorithms may provide employees with increased opportunities to challenge biased selection practices, while also giving employers increased opportunities to mitigate against bias in cultural fit assessments., Co-author, How AI 'Cultural Fit' Assessments Can Be Analyzed for Bias, Law360, N/a, 2023
- Public Comment in support of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC)'s proposed regulations to enhance workplace protections for pregnant employees., Co-author, Sanford Heisler Sharp’s Comment on the EEOC’s Proposed Rule RIN 3046-AB30 to Implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, N/a, 2023
- Panelist/Speaker: NYU Center for Labor and Employment Law 76th Annual Conference. Topic: Pay Equity and Pay Transparency Law and Skills, 2024
Office location for Kate Mueting
700 Pennsylvania Ave. SE
Suite 300
Washington, DC 20003
Phone: 202-221-4003
Selections
- Rising Stars: 2015 - 2020