Washington

Subscribe to Washington

In June, new laws will go into effect that restrict employers’ ability to request and use criminal history information about applicants in three jurisdictions: Kansas City, Missouri; the State of Washington; and the city of Spokane, Washington. Continue reading for summaries of the new restrictions and links to the laws.
Continue Reading June Will Bring New Ban-the-Box and Fair Chance Laws

In a recent article published in Law360, Hunton & Williams LLP Insurance partners discuss two recent decisions where an insurer attempted to escape insurance coverage for a Proposition 65 lawsuit filed against a juice maker company.
Continue Reading Hunton Attorneys Discuss Insurance Coverage for Prop. 65 Claims and Key Takeaways from Recent Court Rulings

On July 26, 2017, an amusement ride named “Fire Ball” at the Ohio State Fair broke apart, killing one passenger and injuring seven others. This deadly incident may trigger a CPSC investigation into the matter.

Prior to 1981, the CPSC exercised jurisdiction over all amusement rides. But after several high-profile cases challenged the CPSC’s jurisdiction over amusement rides with mixed results, an amusement parks trade group successfully lobbied Congress to exempt stationary amusement rides from the CPSC’s jurisdiction. In 1981, Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety Amendments, which amended the definition of “consumer product” to explicitly exempt stationary amusement rides.Continue Reading Recall Roundup: July

On April 18, 2017, the state of Washington passed House Bill 1493, which sets forth requirements for businesses who collect and use biometric identifiers for commercial purposes. Under HB 1493, a biometric identifier includes a fingerprint, voiceprint, retina, iris or other unique biological patterns or characteristic used to identify a specific individual.
Continue Reading Washington State Passes New Legislation on Collection and Use of Biometric Identifiers

San Francisco’s Fair Scheduling and Treatment of Formula Retail Employees Ordinance was passed in 2014, and the trend to pass this type of legislation has expanded into several states. Will Seattle, Washington be the next municipality to propose a predictable scheduling ordinance for retailers?
Continue Reading Monitoring Predictable Scheduling Legislation: Is Seattle Next?

On April 27, 2016, a federal district court judge in the Western District of Washington ruled that the Federal Trade Commission had proven that Amazon.com had engaged in unfair business practices in billing Amazon account holders for in-app charges without express, informed consent to such charges.
Continue Reading Judge Rules that Amazon Unfairly Billed Parents for Their Kids’ In-App Purchases