Kathryn Jocelyn Mickle Werdegar (born April 5, 1936) is a former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California, serving from June 3, 1994, to August 31, 2017.

[2] In 1962, following graduation, she joined the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice working under Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in Washington, D.C.[6] In 1963, after returning to California, she held a series of legal and teaching positions, including associate dean and professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law.

[15][16] The Center for Public Integrity reported that Werdegar ruled in a case involving Wells Fargo & Co., a corporation in which she owned "between $100,001 and $1 million in stock."

The majority ruled that sexual orientation is a protected class under the California constitution and that strict scrutiny is required to review any laws distinguishing based on such.

(1996) 12 Cal.4th 1143: A landlord who believed that renting to an unmarried couple is sinful was not constitutionally entitled to an exemption from a California law barring housing discrimination.

People v. Diaz (2011) 51 Cal.4th 84, 103 (dissent): The majority held police could search the contents of an arrested person's mobile phone without a warrant, probable cause or emergency need.

Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court (2012) 53 Cal.4th 1004: Allowing a class action seeking compensation for an employer's violation of California wage and hour law.

Justice Werdegar dissented, concluding the absence of a significant relationship between the defendant's activities in California and the nonresidents' claims deprived the court of jurisdiction.