McKenzie concentrates her practice on advising and representing employers ranging in size from startups to global corporations in a broad variety of employment and labor law, including the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), California Labor Code, Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), and National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
Prior to joining Mintz, McKenzie was an associate at a global employment and labor law firm in San Francisco, where she represented employers in matters involving claims of wage and hour violations, harassment, retaliation, discrimination, and independent contractor misclassification.
McKenzie earned her JD from the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly known as UC Hastings). During law school, McKenzie worked as a law clerk with the Workers’ Rights Clinic for Legal Aid at Work in San Francisco and the Workers’ Rights Clinic for the COVID-19 Response team in assisting low-income clients on unemployment insurance appeals.
Prior to law school, she earned a BA in human services from Western Washington University and worked as an investigative intern for the Whatcom County Public Defender’s Office.
McKenzie is based in the San Diego office.
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California Bans Employee “Stay or Pay” Contracts
November 4, 2025 | Blog | By McKenzie Rugo, Jennifer Rubin
In further support of California’s longstanding opposition to employee mobility restrictions, on October 13, 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom approved a measure targeting “Stay or Pay” contracts that seek employee financial repayment tied to employment terminations. The final bill was originally intended to capture training repayment agreement provisions but bans broader stay or pay contracts. Employers should carefully review the new law, eliminate any banned arrangements, and modify those that are exempted (but subject to the law’s strict exemption requirements). We discuss the new law in more detail below.
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