In its June 29, 2023, unanimous decision in Groff v. DeJoy, the United States Supreme Court made it easier for employees to seek religious accommodations from their employers. The Court said an employer can only deny an employee’s request for religious accommodation if the employer can demonstrate that the requested accommodation would result in substantial increased costs for the employer. […]

As of January 1, 2024, employers in Washington State cannot refuse to hire an applicant based on his or her past use of cannabis. The new law, however, does not impact an employer’s ability to drug test applicants for controlled substances. […]

On May 1, 2023, Seattle became the first city in the nation to permanently require companies to provide paid sick and safe time leave to gig workers—also known as app-based workers. […]

Companies are increasingly using algorithms in their candidate selection process either directly, or indirectly when they employ a vendor that uses algorithms. The use of algorithms is intended to remove unintended selection bias from the hiring process. […]

On February 21, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board” or the “NLRB”) issued a decision in McLaren Macomb, 371 NLRB No. 58 (2023), that could significantly alter the terms of severance agreements with departing employees. […]

As a friendly reminder, Washington’s Pay Transparency Law went into effect on January 1, 2023. Employers now must disclose in each job posting: (1) the wage scale or salary range for the position; and (2) a general description of all benefits and other compensation to be offered. […]

Plaintiff Eric Dodge was a long-time teacher in the Evergreen School District (“the District”) in Vancouver, Washington. In August 2019, Dodge attended two teacher training days and brought a Make America Great Again (“MAGA”) hat. The first day of training involved cultural sensitivity and racial bias training presented by a professor from Washington State University. […]

A New Year’s Resolution that is on every employer’s list is minimizing and preventing litigation. This can be done by ensuring your company’s policies, procedures, and agreements are in compliance with local, state, and federal labor and employment laws, as well as providing employees with crucial training. […]

As we wind up the calendar year, employers should take note of legislative changes enacted during 2022, as well as those anticipated in the new year. […]

A recent decision by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington suggests that sexual harassment in the workplace could lead to the wronged employee receiving disability benefits under the employer’s disability insurance plan. This case signals an emerging trend of courts exploring the psychological impacts of sexual harassment and the intersection of these effects with disability law. […]

As employers continue to navigate the evolving stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in the workplace, we now face a new public health challenge: the monkeypox virus (“MPV”). […]

In April 2021, the employer world gasped when a Seattle jury awarded a fired IBM manager $11 million in damages. IBM recently received some good news: The Ninth Circuit just overturned the $6 million emotional distress verdict as excessive in Kingston v. International Business Machines Corp. […]