Lawsuits Over Second Jobs and Wage Transparency Surge

January 19, 2026
Hall Benefits Law, LLC

Washington State’s federal courts are seeing a rash of employment litigation. Much of the litigation involves laws barring restrictive covenants and encouraging wage transparency, which have spurned suits claiming that employers failed to disclose wages or salary ranges in job positing. Other suits involve legal challenges to employers that refuse to allow workers to moonlight at second jobs. Targets of these suits include large national companies, including Wells Fargo, Ulta, Lulelemon, Best Buy, and Delta Airlines, whom plaintiff-side attorneys accuse of increasing profits at the cost of lower-paid workers.

In September 2025, 36 employment lawsuits were pending in Washington’s federal district courts, a number that is only slightly down from the 43 suits pending in August. These figures have remained well above the typical monthly average for the past year.

Seattle law firm Emery Reddy has filed many of these suits, some of which are structured as class actions against employers that prohibit the lowest-paid workers from working for other employers, acting as independent contractors, or being self-employed. A Washington state law allows any worker in the state earning less than $33.32 per hour (twice the state minimum wage of $16.66) to have a second job. Managing partner Timothy W. Emery at Emery Reddy says his law firm is taking on these suits to protect Washington’s lowest paid workers, who have some of the strongest state law protections for employees in the nation.

The law firm also is focusing on corporations like L’Oreal, Kindercare, Lucid, and Bluelinx for allegedly failing to disclose wage scales in job postings. A 2023 Washington state law requires all job postings to include the wage scale or salary range, as well as a general description of available benefits and other compensation for each position. Emery Reddy accuses these corporations of using discriminatory hiring practices due to their ongoing lack of compliance with the law.

HBL has experience in all areas of benefits and employment law, offering a comprehensive solution to all your business benefits and HR/employment needs. We help ensure you are in compliance with the complex requirements of ERISA and the IRS code, as well as those laws that impact you and your employees. Together, we reduce your exposure to potential legal or financial penalties. Learn more by calling 470-571-1007.

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Hall Benefits Law, LLC

HBL offers employers comprehensive legal guidance on benefits in mergers and acquisitions, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), executive compensation, health and welfare benefits, healthcare reform, and retirement plans. We counsel a wide spectrum of clients including small, mid-sized, and large companies, 401(k) investment advisors, health insurance brokers, accountants, attorneys, and HR consultants, just to name a few. HBL is passionate about advising clients, and we are dedicated to our mission: to provide comprehensive, personalized, and practical ERISA and benefits legal solutions that exceed client expectations.

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