Overview

Sarah Levitan Kaatz is a Partner in Lozano Smith's Monterey office. She specializes in labor and employment law and student issues for school districts. Ms. Kaatz spent two years with the U.S. Department of Labor in its Office of Administrative Hearings before joining Lozano Smith.

Since joining Lozano Smith in 1999, Ms. Kaatz has advised K-12 school districts and community college districts with regard to classified and certificated employment issues, labor relations and student related concerns.

Experience

Ms. Kaatz has represented clients in numerous administrative proceedings, discipline hearings and appeals, and grievance arbitrations. She negotiates collective bargaining agreements on behalf of school district clients using both traditional and interest based bargaining approaches. She regularly advises clients regarding discrimination complaints, personnel investigations, labor law compliance and related personnel issues.

Presenter Experience

Ms. Kaatz is a frequent presenter to school audiences, including the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) and the California School Boards Association (CSBA), on issues such as sexual harassment prevention, employment discrimination, employee and student discipline, and cyber-bullying. She is also a regular presenter of student and employment topics at Lozano Smith's Central Coast Education Law Consortium.

For four years, Ms. Kaatz was the attorney coach for Seaside High School's Mock Trial Team and took the team to State for two of those years.

Articles

Ms. Kaatz's published work includes "Avoiding Settlement Conference Traps," published in the San Francisco Daily Journal, and "Settling the Score" published in the ABA Journal.

Education

Ms. Kaatz earned her J.D. from Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, and was a member of the Moot Court Board. She established roots on the Central Coast while an undergraduate student at the University of California at Santa Cruz, where she earned her B.A. with honors.

Recovery of Wage Overpayments by School Employers

By: Sarah Kaatz, Ricardo Rodriguez- 03/08/2024

U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Down Maine Law Prohibiting Tuition Assistance to Religious Private Schools

By: Sarah Kaatz- 07/29/2022

New Requirements for the Protection and Collection of Certain Student Records and Information

By: Sarah Kaatz, Ruth Mendyk, Eleanor Welke- 12/22/2021

PERB Holds that Employers Have a Duty to Negotiate in Good Faith Regarding the Effects of Mandatory Vaccination Policies Prior to Implementation

By: Sarah Kaatz- 08/12/2021

SB 1159 and AB 685: Governor Codifies Workers Compensation Presumption and Exposure Notice Requirements Related to COVID-19

By: Sarah Kaatz, Crystal Pizano- 10/20/2020

New CFRA Bill Expands Job-Protected Leave

By: Sarah Kaatz, Angela Okamura- 10/15/2020

ACSA Keynote Address - Everything I Needed to Know About Life, I Learned at the Table

By: Sarah Kaatz- 01/31/2019

This special episode of the podcast features a discussion with negotiator Sarah Kaatz and shares extended excerpts from her successful keynote address at the 2019 ACSA Negotiators' Symposium. Attorney Devon Lincoln talks with Sarah about the life insights she draws on to negotiate with public employee unions in a range of challenging scenarios.