Katie Erno

Counsel

Overview

Katie Erno is a counsel in Crowell & Moring’s Labor and Employment Group. Katie represents companies in a wide range of complex commercial disputes, with a focus on employment litigation and counseling. 

Specifically, Katie litigates a variety of wage and hour claims, class actions, discrimination and harassment claims, shareholder disputes, and issues related to corporate governance. She has deep experience in all stages of litigation, from drafting and challenging complaints, fact and expert discovery, drafting and arguing discovery and dispositive motions, trial, and appeals. Her cases range from single-plaintiff disputes to class actions and complex litigation involving large liability exposure in the context of high-profile bankruptcies. Katie enjoys learning the intricacies of her clients’ businesses and tailors her litigation approach with her clients’ ultimate business objectives in mind.

On the counseling side, Katie routinely investigates and advises clients on a variety of pre-litigation employment-related issues, including wage and hour and discrimination and harassment complaints, employee discipline and termination, employment policies and practices, employee mobility, and non-competition issues. Katie works with employers to build compliant and defensible practices in the first instance so that they can avoid litigation whenever possible.

Career & Education

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    • Boston College, B.A., cum laude, Hispanic studies and communications, 2004
    • New York University School of Law, J.D., cum laude, 2009
    • Boston College, B.A., cum laude, Hispanic studies and communications, 2004
    • New York University School of Law, J.D., cum laude, 2009
    • California
    • District of Columbia
    • California
    • District of Columbia

Katie's Insights

Webinar | 12.12.24

Navigating 2025: Key Updates and Reforms in California Employment Law

Get ready for 2025 by joining us to review the major changes to California employment law that occurred in 2024.  This year, California finally reformed the state’s Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”), limiting the ability of plaintiff’s to bring claims unrelated to their own employment experiences and creating significant incentives for employers to act swiftly to find and fix any employment law violations.

Representative Matters

  • Ramirez v. Guzman Brothers, Inc. (Cal. Sup. Ct. 2015) – Successfully defeated class certification on behalf of Guzman Brothers, Inc., owner/operator of a Mexican restaurant, against wage and hour claims brought by former employee Miguel Ramirez and "others similarly situated."
  • Successfully defended one of the largest providers of on-site auto-repair services in the San Francisco Bay Area against discrimination and related claims brought by former employee. 
  • Bettina Whyte, as Trustee for the SemGroup Litigation Trust v. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (Okla. Dist. Ct.)—Represented the Trustee of the SemGroup Litigation Trust in a suit brought against PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP related to PricewaterhouseCoopers' breach of its professional and fiduciary duties that resulted in the multi-billion dollar collapse of SemGroup, a midstream oil company in Oklahoma. Plaintiff successfully remanded the case back to state court, survived a motion to dismiss, and defeated several key summary judgment motions. The case settled shortly before trial.
  • Dr. Bondi, Extraordinary Commissioner of Parmalat S.p.A. v. Grant Thornton LLP (2d Cir.)—Represented Extraordinary Commissioner of Parmalat S.p.A., the Italian dairy and food products conglomerate, in a lawsuit against various Grant Thornton entities arising out of one of the largest bankruptcies in European history. Plaintiff successfully challenged federal jurisdiction in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which resulted in an order vacating an adverse summary judgment decision.

Katie's Insights

Webinar | 12.12.24

Navigating 2025: Key Updates and Reforms in California Employment Law

Get ready for 2025 by joining us to review the major changes to California employment law that occurred in 2024.  This year, California finally reformed the state’s Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”), limiting the ability of plaintiff’s to bring claims unrelated to their own employment experiences and creating significant incentives for employers to act swiftly to find and fix any employment law violations.

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Katie's Insights

Webinar | 12.12.24

Navigating 2025: Key Updates and Reforms in California Employment Law

Get ready for 2025 by joining us to review the major changes to California employment law that occurred in 2024.  This year, California finally reformed the state’s Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”), limiting the ability of plaintiff’s to bring claims unrelated to their own employment experiences and creating significant incentives for employers to act swiftly to find and fix any employment law violations.