Shareholders Darren Feider and Jennifer Parda-Aldrich secured a significant appellate victory on behalf of our clients—contractors and subcontractors who perform public works projects—with an order by Division II of the Washington State Court of Appeals ruling that the Washington State prevailing wage law is unconstitutional. Appealing a trial court decision ruling in favor of the State of Washington on the issue on summary judgment grounds, the appellate court agreed with the position asserted by Darren and Jennifer that the State’s prevailing wage law violates the constitutional non-delegation doctrine. Specifically, the appellate court agreed that the prevailing wage law is an unconstitutional delegation of authority because it requires that prevailing wage rates be adopted from future wage rates in collective bargaining agreements created by private parties. As such, the appellate court held that the challenged section of the prevailing wage law is unconstitutional and reversed the trial court’s order granting summary judgement for the State. The appellate court’s full August 31, 2021, published opinion may be accessed here: D2 54465-2-II Published Opinion.pdf (wa.gov)
