Months after WA employers required to share pay info, a flood of lawsuits

Dozens of Washington state employers are facing proposed class action lawsuits accusing them of failing to disclose salary information on job postings, in violation of a new state regulation that went into effect in January.

The law requires companies with more than 15 employees to include a wage scale and benefits information on a job posting, a mandate that is meant to close the gender wage gap by helping applicants negotiate pay rates, compare offers and prevent employers from basing an offer on an individual’s salary history. 

Timothy Emery, an attorney with the Seattle-based law firm Emery Reddy, has filed 31 lawsuits since June against a range of employers — from Safeway-owner Albertsons to Adidas to IT company Insight Global. Thirty of those lawsuits were filed in the past week. 

Ten months since the new legislation went into effect, Emery said his firm has heard from “so many clients” who are still facing pay inequality and have seen employers continue to hide salary information.