On August 20, 2024, Western District of Washington Judge John H. Chun asked the Washington Supreme Court to answer the question of what a party must prove to be considered a “job applicant” for the purposes of a pay...more
The Washington Supreme Court recently considered whether it would adopt the "apex doctrine." This doctrine is a framework used by some courts to evaluate whether a party may take the deposition of a company's executives and...more
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years—and this past month...more
The Washington Supreme Court handed down a new framework last week on an employer’s responsibility at the worksite for health and safety violations. The Tradesmen decision results from two separate lawsuits involving...more
In response to last year’s groundbreaking decision by the Washington State Supreme Court in Martinez-Cuevas v. DeRuyter Bros. Dairy, Inc., the state legislature recently passed Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5172 (SB5172),...more
Washington’s Supreme Court disrupted the state’s agricultural industry on November 5, 2020, when it held that the agricultural overtime exemption at RCW 49.46.130(2)(g) violated the state’s constitution as applied to dairy...more
More than thirty years ago, the Washington Supreme Court ruled defense counsel may not engage in ex parte communications with a plaintiff’s treating physician. Loudon v. Mhyre, 110 Wn.2d 675, 676 (1988). The Loudon rule, as...more
In a sweeping 5-4 opinion last week, the Washington Supreme Court held that dairy workers are entitled to overtime pay, concluding that a state statutory exemption violated the Washington State Constitution. For the previous...more
On November 5, 2020, the Washington Supreme Court altered a 60-year provision of Washington’s Minimum Wage Statute when it issued its decision in Martinez-Cuevas v. DeRuyter Brothers Dairy. The court held that the...more
In Burnett v. Pagliacci Pizza, Inc., 442 P.3d 1267 (Wash. Ct. App. 2019), the Washington Court of Appeals held that the manner in which an employer communicates its arbitration agreement is crucial for determining whether it...more
On September 5, 2019, the Washington Supreme Court held that non-agricultural employees do not have to be paid a separate hourly rate for time spent on non-piece-rate activities. Further, workweek averaging, as described in...more
On September 5, 2019, the Washington Supreme Court issued a huge win for all non-agricultural employers who pay commission or piece-rate pay to their employees in Washington state. In a 6-3 decision, the Washington Supreme...more
In Taylor v. Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company, the Washington Supreme Court recently held that obesity is always an “impairment” under the Washington Law Against Discrimination (“WLAD”). ...more
The Washington State Supreme Court recently held obesity qualifies as an impairment under the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD). The decision runs counter to other court decisions across the country finding obesity...more
The Washington Supreme Court yesterday ruled, for the first time in Washington, that obesity can be a disabling condition that protects workers from discrimination and requires accommodation. Employee, Casey Taylor, sued...more
The Washington Supreme Court held for the first time yesterday that obesity is a protected class under state anti-discrimination law (Taylor v. Burlington Northern Railroad Holdings, Inc.). This decision runs counter to...more
Employers are liable for employees’ discriminatory conduct toward non-employees in places of public accommodation, such as restaurants, banks, hotels, medical providers' offices, and education facilities – even if the...more
The Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD) prohibits “places of public accommodation” from discriminating against their customers on the basis of several protected characteristics, including, without limitation, sex,...more
Last week, the Washington Supreme affirmed the Court of Appeals in Floeting v. Group Health Cooperative, finding that employers are directly liable when their employees sexually harass members of the public under the...more
The Washington Supreme Court case Brady v. Autozone recently addressed the standards that apply when a non-exempt employee alleges that an employer did not provide meal breaks. In short: it is now clear that if a lawsuit is...more
Your former employee claims he was fired for blowing the whistle on alleged illegal activity. Your lawyers inform you that the deadline for filing a claim under the applicable whistleblower statutes has passed. You breathe a...more
With some limited exceptions, Washington State wage and hour rules require that workers receive a paid 10 minute rest break for every four hours worked. The Washington Supreme Court has now expanded employer obligations in...more