Katherine C. Den Bleyker

Overview

Kate Den Bleyker defends employers in wage and hour class actions and Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) representative lawsuits throughout California. Her litigation experience spans state and federal courts, where she resolves complex disputes involving consumer protection statutes, unfair competition laws, and wage and hour regulations. Kate also represents employers in individual employment claims, including harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination, and wage disputes, both in court and before administrative agencies, such as the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and California Civil Rights Department.

Kate’s defense experience reflects her years of earned fluency in the procedural mechanisms that govern class certification, PAGA standing, and representative liability. She handles cases where the stakes extend beyond individual claims to affect entire workforces and business models. Her litigation strategy accounts for the interplay between substantive employment law and the procedural rules that determine whether cases proceed as individual disputes or expand into class-wide exposure. This dual focus allows her to challenge plaintiffs’ theories at multiple stages of the litigation process, from initial pleadings through summary judgment and trial.

Beyond the courtroom, Kate advises employers on compliance measures designed to reduce litigation risk before a claim might arise. She counsels clients on wage and hour practices, termination decisions, disciplinary protocols, and employee policy development. Her preventative advisory solutions draw directly from her litigation prowess—she understands which workplace practices generate exposure and how documentation gaps become liabilities. This perspective enables her to help clients build defensible systems rather than simply react to allegations after they surface.

Experience

• Represented a healthcare client to obtain dismissal with prejudice of wage and hour class and PAGA action with nine-figure exposure
• Represented a logistics client to obtain a favorable arbitration verdict in a discrimination/wrongful termination matter and dismissal of representative PAGA allegations
• Defeated class certification of various wage and hour claims against a large restaurant industry client
• Defeated class certification of various wage and hour claims against a large manufacturing industry client
• Utilized PAGA cure provisions to avoid seven-figure exposure for a retail client
• Utilized PAGA cure provisions to avoid seven-figure exposure for a hospitality industry client
• Obtained dismissal of wage and hour claims against a federal contractor under federal enclave doctrine

Honors, Publications, & Speeches

Honors

• Rising Star, Employment & Labor, Law & Politics, 2014-2019

Publications

• Author, “Courts Use Common Sense to Manage PAGA,” Daily Journal, July 16, 2014
• Author, “The Relationship Between NLRA Section 7 and Social Media: “It’s Complicated,” Association of Business Trial Lawyers Report, Association of Business Trial Lawyers, XXXII, No. 2, 2012
• Author, “The First Amendment Versus Operational Security: Where Should the Milblogging Balance Lie?” Fordham Intellectual Property Media & Entertainment Law Journal, 17 Fordham Intell. Prop. Media & Ent. L.J. 401, 2007

Speeches

• Presenter, “2021 COVID-19 Employment Law Update,” February 2021
• Presenter, “2020 Employment Law Update,” February 2020
• Presenter, “Wage and Hour Update,” November 2019
• Presenter, “Dynamex, AB5, and You,” November 2019
• Presenter, “DOL Overtime Considerations,” April 2019
• Presenter, “An Epic Change: Arbitration Agreements in a New Era,” June 28, 2018
• Presenter, “A Wage and Hour Nightmare: Dynamex Operations West v. Superior Court,” May 31, 2018
• Presenter, “Advantages and Pitfalls of Pick-Up Stix Individual Settlement Strategy,” March 21, 2018
• Presenter, “Lessons from Williams v. Superior Court,” August 1, 2017
• Presenter, “PAGA: The Sue Your Boss Law,” March, 2016; September, 2016
• Presenter, “CLRA Class Actions and the Assisted Living Industry,” February 25, 2016 (Seattle, WA) and February 26, 2016 (Portland, Oregon)
• Presenter, “PAGA: California’s Private Attorneys General Act of 2004,” December 1, 2015
• Presenter, “Wage and Hour 201,” May 5, 2015

News

Professional

Association of Business Trial Lawyers