Katherine C. Franklin

Katherine C. Franklin is an experienced litigator and trial attorney who has represented employers for more than 30 years. Her practice focuses on:

• Training executives, managers, HR professionals, and ethics and compliance officers in all areas of employment law and ethics and compliance, including  harassment prevention, violence prevention, lawful and effective investigations, the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act, diversity, performance management, manager boot camp, effective hiring, anticorruption laws including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and UK Bribery Acts, executive ethics and compliance, code of conduct and whistleblower claims and retaliation, compliance issues and global employment law
• Advising clients on the implementation and maintenance of proactive employment practices
• Teaching workplace investigation best practices for U. S. and multinational organizations
• Wrongful discharge and discrimination litigation

Katherine advises both U. S. and multinational companies on proactive employment and compliance practices.  She assists companies with creating and revising investigation protocols, codes of conduct and developing ethics and compliance programs.  She also advises companies on proactive employment practices in multiple areas.

Katherine has vast experience training executives and managers using interactive training programs designed to minimize employment litigation. She has trained thousands of managers and employees and has prepared, designed and implemented many different training programs all across the U. S. and globally, including harassment prevention, violence prevention, lawful and effective investigations, the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act, Managers’ Boot Camp, retaliation prevention, effective hiring and performance management.

Katherine has substantial experience training companies, including multinational organizations, on ethics and compliance issues. She has traveled abroad to many countries including India, China, the Philippines, Canada and countries throughout Europe to teach global employment law and ethics compliance to multinationals.

Katherine has also prepared, designed and implemented many diversity training programs for HR teams, executives, management and employees.

In partnership with the Washington State Department of Personnel, Littler Mendelson created the HELP Academy, a comprehensive program designed to train state managers and human resource professionals. Through this program, Katherine has helped to train hundreds of people in all aspects of employment law. In 1999, the HELP Academy received the Innovations Award from the Council of State Governments for proactively addressing the alarming increase in human resource-related conflicts, litigation and liability.

Katherine is a frequent speaker on employment law topics to lawyers, ethics and compliance officers and human resources professionals at companies in the United States and around the world. Katherine served on the Washington Supreme Court's Gender and Justice Commission for two terms. She was President of the Washington Women Lawyers in 1993-1994.