An employment law issue generated controversy yesterday at a company’s annual shareholder meeting in Seattle. The company is Expeditors International, a Fortune 500 global logistics company based in Seattle. It trades in the NASDAQ 100 and generates $5 billion in annual revenue. A shareholder proposal requested adoption of a written policy banning sexual orientation… Read More
Posts Categorized In: Seattle
New Military Family Leave Act in Washington
Effective June 12, 2008, military families in Washington will have new leave rights under legislation passed by the legislature and signed by Governor Gregoire. During periods of military conflict, employees can take up to up to 15 days of unpaid leave before their spouse is deployed or while their spouse is on leave from… Read More
EEOC Finds Against University of Washington in Age Discrimination Case
Here is an article about an interesting age discrimination case against the University of Washington. The case was filed by Warren Guntheroth, an 80 year old doctor at the UW Medical Center. In 2004, the UW paid $35 million for overbilling Medicare and Medicaid. At the time, Guntheroth blamed the dean of the medical school. … Read More
Washington Court Allows Wrongful Discharge Claim by Women’s Basketball Coach
Trev Kiser was the women’s basketball coach at Clark College in Vancouver, Washington. Kisar complained to school officials about a pattern of inequality between the men’s and women’s basketball programs, such as in the quality of the officiating assigned to women’s games, the team budgets, and travel accommodations, and that the college’s athletic director was… Read More
$4.4 Million Discrimination Verdict Set Aside by Washington Court
In November 2007, a jury in Seattle awarded $4.4 million to Melissa Sheffield in a discrimination lawsuit. Sheffield sued her former employer, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., for retaliation after she complained of sexual orientation harassment, and she also claimed that Goodyear failed to reasonably accommodate a disability. Articles about the case can be read… Read More
Constructive Discharge Claim Dismissed by Washington Court
Yesterday, Division III of the Washington Court of Appeals issued an “unpublished” opinion addressing constructive discharge under Washington law. The decision does not break any new ground in Washington employment law, which why it is unpublished, but it is worthwhile to observe what is not a constructive discharge. The employee argued constructive discharge after he… Read More
Lowe's Store in Longview, Washington Sued for Sexual Harassment
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a lawsuit against a Lowe’s store in Longview, Washington for sex discrimination and sexual harassment. There is an article about the case here. According to the media reports, two heterosexual employees allege that they were repeatedly called "gay" by store managers, and a female employee alleges… Read More
A Few Words About Non-Compete Agreements in Washington
Here is an interesting article in today’s Chicago Tribune about the proliferation of non-compete agreements. I thought this was a good opportunity to say a few words here about non-compete agreements. As the article observes, more and more employers are using non-compete agreements for more and more employees, but the article also notes that such… Read More
Workplace Bullying Legislation Introduced in 13 States, Including Washington
Legislation has been introduced in 13 states, including Washington, to allow employee lawsuits against employers for bullying or offensive behavior even when the conduct is not illegal harassment under discrimination laws. For an interesting article on these bills see "No Putting Up With Putdowns". No state has enacted one of these so-called workplace bullying laws. … Read More
Washington Supreme Court Rejects Claims Based on Delayed Payment of Wages
The plaintiffs in this wage and hour class action challenged a practice whereby overtime earned during one month would be paid at the end the following month. In this case, corrections officers in Thurston County would submit time sheets for overtime at the end of the month and the wages were paid on the last… Read More