Washington

Washington Supreme Court Weighs in on the Weighty Question of Weight

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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”). The court held that the WLAD is more expansive than the Americans with Disabilities Act and expressly refused to follow some federal court decisions that found obesity to be a disability only if it is caused by a separate underlying physiological disorder.

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Pennsylvania Plaintiffs Launch Successful Attack on Pittsburgh’s Local Paid Sick Leave

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The proliferation of paid sick leave (PSL) laws has been well-documented in the last few years.  California’s PSL statute has received particular attention in this blog, but Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Oregon have also adopted similar state-wide legislation.  And it is not just the states that are rolling out requirements for PSL; dozens of cities and counties have also adopted PSL ordinances (oftentimes in states that already have similar laws in place).  Major municipal adopters include New York City, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Seattle, Newark, and Philadelphia.

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Don’t “friend me”: More State Law Limitations on Accessing Employee Social Media Sites

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Effective July 28, 2013, Washington became the eleventh state to have a law prohibiting employers from, among other things, asking its personnel for the user names and passwords to employee social media accounts. The law does have some limited exceptions, including allowing employers to retrieve content from an employee’s personal social media account in the context of an investigation into an employee’s misconduct, or if an employee is accused of making unauthorized transfers of proprietary information. Even then, however, employers can only access the information if it’s provided by the employee voluntarily.  READ MORE →