Kate Gold

COVID-19 and social justice movements had monumental effects worldwide and they’ve likewise impacted Gold’s workload.

Since March, the labor and employment partner at Proskauer Rose has been scrambling – like everyone else in the field – to keep up with rapidly changing COVID-19 laws and regulations that have transformed how her management-side clients do their work – all while heated, national conversations around race have drawn more attention than ever to workplace culture.

The matters Gold has worked on recently rank among “some of the most interesting matters and challenges that I’ve had, especially… with Covid being so much in the forefront of what we’re doing,” she said in an interview in October, adding that many decisions about remote work and safety had to be made quickly. “The high-level investigations and the race discrimination allegations… that we’re starting to see are really interesting reflections of what’s going on in society in general.”

Gold has represented CBS, Billboard Magazine, and government contractor the Aerospace Corp. against discrimination claims in recent years. In the case involving Billboard, which was highly publicized, a former editor of the magazine sued the company for terminating him after he was publicly accused of soliciting nude photographs in exchange for press coverage. Crowley v. Billboard Magazine et al., 1:19-cv-07571 (S.D. N.Y., filed Aug. 13, 2019).

“One thing that I’m proud of is, I feel I’ve had a lot of versatility in my range of focus,” Gold said. She handles workplace investigations and litigation, in addition to counseling clients on COVID-19 regulations in recent months.

She also finds time to be a mentor. Gold is a board member of the Constitutional Rights Foundation, a non-profit organization that aims to educate youth on the importance of civic participation. A vice chair of the organization’s Expanding Horizons Internship program, Gold has mentored three first-generation, college-bound high school students, taking them on as interns.

“For the interns, that’s really their first professional work experience and they really get a ton out of it,” Gold said. “I was able to be a resource and a guide for not just the internship, but for also the college application process.”

— Jessica Mach