Katie E. Ngo

Practice Focus

Katie E. Ngo is senior counsel in Tressler’s Local Government Practice Group. She concentrates her practice in school law, traditional labor law, employee relations, and employment discrimination law for public sector clients.

For her school clients, Katie works directly with superintendents and administrators to ensure compliance with the Illinois School Code, the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Illinois School Student Records Act (ISSRA), and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). She counsels clients on a variety of common school-related issues, including tenured teacher discipline, management of Title IX complaints, updates to school board policies, special education development and due process, student records requests, and student discipline cases.

For her labor and employment clients, she counsels both union and non-union employers on a comprehensive variety of matters, including collective bargaining, impact bargaining, grievances and arbitration, unfair labor practices, discipline and discharge, discrimination claims, workplace investigations, wage and hour disputes, and more. She advises her clients on proper compliance with various labor and employment laws, including the Illinois Labor Relations Act, the Illinois Education Labor Relations Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Illinois Human Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the Open Meetings Act (OMA), the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the Public Safety Employee Benefits Act (PSEBA), the Public Employee Disability Act (PEDA), and various other state and federal laws and regulations.

Katie has experience negotiating collective bargaining agreements on behalf of various public employers, including contracts for teachers, education support personnel, maintenance staff, bus drivers, doctors, pharmacists, call center staff, nursing staff, sheriff’s department staff,  and a variety of other public sector employees. She has provided training to supervisors, administrators, and employees on various topics, including employment discrimination and harassment prevention, ethics, union grievance response, vicarious liability for police supervisors, body-worn camera laws, and other relevant subjects at her client’s request. She has investigated employee disputes and complaints, including claims of sexual harassment, racial discrimination, and hostile work environment, among others.