Alex Cates

Alexandria Cates

Associate
About

Alex Cates focuses her practice on employment advice and counselling, workplace investigations, and employment guidance on transactional matters for a wide range of employers. 

Alex regularly advises clients on various issues, including workplace misconduct, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, hiring and termination, wage and hour laws, state and federal leave laws, ADA accommodations, reductions in force, and employment handbooks and policies.  She has also conducted workplace investigations on allegations of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, bullying, and unethical conduct. Alex has experience conducting workplace investigations of all sizes, including high-profile investigations that have made national headlines. 

Alex counsels corporate and private equity clients on employment matters in connection with the full range of corporate transactions. Alex also conducts employer training on various topics, including state harassment law, state non-compete requirements, and state-mandated parental leave.

Alex’s experience defending employers in wage and hour class actions, private attorney general representative actions, wrongful termination and employment discrimination claims, state and federal whistleblowing, and other employment-related litigation guides her counselling.  She has represented clients in employment-related cases before state and federal courts, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the California Labor Commissioner, the Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries, the Washington Department of Labor & Industries.

Alex has also served a secondment at an international social media platform. During her secondment, she provided advice on daily employment and human resources issues. Alex gained valuable in-house perspective and worked with various business units to update and implement nationwide policies and practices, advise on restructuring and layoff disputes, manage internal investigations, and resolve issues with current and former employees.

Bar admissionsCaliforniaWashington
CourtsUnited States District Court for the Central District of CaliforniaUnited States District Court for the Western District of Washington
Education
  • J.D.,UCLA School of Law
  • B.A., University of Washington

Awards

  • 2023 North American Pro-Bono Award, Recipient, DLA Piper, January 2024

Pro Bono

Alex maintains an active pro bono practice. In 2023, she successfully convinced the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Committee on Parole to grant parole to her client, who had been sentenced to life without parole for a crime he committed when he was 16 years old. Her client had been incarcerated at Louisiana State Penitentiary, Angola, for 27 years. She has also assisted survivors of domestic violence in obtaining restraining orders against their abusers and is passionate about juvenile justice and election law compliance.

Publications

  • "Washington state HB 1450 is signed into law, limiting enforceability of non-compete agreements – key takeaways," May 9, 2019

Seminars

  • California Employment Law Briefing, Virtual, October 20, 2021
  • "Annual Employment Law CLE Briefing 2020," Seattle, February 20, 2020
  • "California Employment Law Briefing," Los Angeles, January 30, 2020

Media Mentions

  • "4 Must-Watch Washington Wage Laws," Law360.com, February 7, 2023

Civic and Charitable

  • Friends of the Seattle Public Library, Board Member

Memberships And Affiliations

  • California Bar Association
  • Washington Bar Association
  • King County Bar Association

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