Katharine O. Beattie
Partner
Katharine O. Beattie represents clients in litigation and provides counseling on federal and state labor and employment matters, including 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 is a partner in the firm鈥檚 Labor & Employment Practice Group.
Kate handles employment litigation before federal and state courts, arbitrators, and administrative agencies, including state fair employment and human rights agencies. She 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鈥檚 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.
Awards and Recognitions
- Recognized by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in the practice area of Labor & Employment (2026)
- Chairperson, Read to a Child, Boston Regional Board
- Selected by her peers for inclusion in聽The Best Lawyers in America漏 in the field of Litigation – Labor & Employment (2022-2024)
- Massachusetts Super Lawyers, Employment Lit: Defense (2018-2021)
- Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Top Women of Law (2019)
- Board Member, Read to a Child, Boston Regional Board
- Alumna, Boston Chamber of Commerce Women鈥檚 Leadership Program (2010-2011)
Affiliations
- Member, Boston Bar Association鈥檚 Labor & Employment Steering Committee
Presentations and Publications
- Panelist, 鈥淟aw School for the CFO,鈥 CFO Leadership Council Spring 2025 Conference (June 2, 2025)
- Speaker, 鈥淲histleblower Protections: Navigating Health Care Employment & Labor Rights,鈥 麻豆传媒 & Lardner Webinar (January 8, 2025)
- Co-author, 鈥淢assachusetts: Proceed With Caution – New Vaccination Criteria for Hospitals and Other Licensed Health Facilities,鈥澛Health Care Law Today聽(November 7, 2023)
- Speaker, 鈥淲hat You Need to Know About the New Massachusetts Paid Family Medical Leave,鈥 Boston Women in Finance (June 12, 2019)
- Speaker, 鈥淲age and Litigation Update,鈥 MSADA CEO and CEFO Forum (December 13, 2018)
- Speaker, 鈥淎SA Law Conference,鈥 ASA Staffing Law Conference (May 10, 2018)
- Speaker, 鈥淣ew England Construction Risk Conference,鈥 Willis Towers Watson
- Co-author, “Plan For Recession Layoffs Now To Avoid Delay and Liability,”聽Law 360聽(August 25, 2022)
- Quoted, 鈥淗ow to Make Telecommuting Work During a Pandemic,鈥 Emaxx Group, (March 24, 2020)
- Quoted, 鈥淢ass. Noncompete Law Overhaul Not As Strict As It Seems,鈥聽Law 360聽(August 17, 2018)
- Co-author, 鈥淪upreme Court Rules on Class Action Waivers in Arbitration Agreements,鈥聽Massachusetts Auto Dealer Magazine聽(June 1, 2018)
- Quoted, 鈥淲orkplace Marijuana Rules Confronted in Discrimination Cases,鈥澛National Law Journal聽(July 25, 2017)
麻豆传媒 Achieves Top Rankings in Chambers USA 2026