Washington State Capitol

OLYMPIA — The House Labor Committee on Friday endorsed authorizing workers and organizations to prosecute employers for pay and safety violations, deputizing private lawyers to act as state attorneys.

Under House Bill 1076, private parties could pursue in court allegations that the Department of Labor and Industries declined to investigate.

Courts would treat the private parties as the government. If employees win, the workers and state would share the proceeds. 

House Labor Committee Chairman Mike Sells, D-Everett, said workers need more protection than state agencies provide. “There’s fear,” he said. “They do deserve some access to justice.”

Business groups say it’s the state’s job to enforce workplace laws. Privatizing enforcement will lead to an onslaught of claims, forcing employers to choose between settling or funding a defense, the groups argue.

The Washington Farm Bureau rates the bill’s defeat a high priority. The bill would lead to “litigation armageddon,” Washington State Dairy Federation labor analyst Scott Dilley said.

“It’s just a categorically bad idea, and there’s no redeeming value in it,” he said. “We already have agencies and regulations and processes set up for investigations and enforcement.

“Our state is already business unfriendly, and this would add to the list of problems,” Dilley said.

HB 1076 passed the Democratic-controlled Labor Committee on a party-line vote. According to the bill, “most” employers follow the law, but “violations of workplace protections persist.”

State resources are limited, so abuse goes unpunished, according to the bill, co-sponsored by 24 House Democrats.

The bill allows “aggrieved” parties to file charges. Democrats rejected an amendment, offered by Republicans, to limit “aggrieved” parties to workers. Sells said workers need organizations to “come along and help them through this process.”

The committee’s top-ranking Republican, Rep. Larry Hoff of Vancouver, said the legislation was “an unfortunate bill at the wrong time.”

“Right now our employers are scrambling. They’re holding on by their fingernails trying to come out of this COVID-induced coma,” he said.

If Labor and Industries needs more resources to investigate, give it to them, Hoff said.

“We absolutely do not want to deny justice to any employee. However, there are existing laws. There are existing agencies that cover these bases very well for our employees,” he said.

California has a similar law, the Private Attorneys General Act.

The law permits private parties to bring “qui tam” actions, an abbreviation for a Latin phase, “Who as well as for the king as for himself sues in this matter.”

The federal False Claims Act authorizes qui tam actions against parties who have defrauded the federal government.

HB 1076 proposes to apply the principle of private enforcement on behalf of the state to a wide range of laws, including those that govern agricultural employers and farm labor contractors.