WSHRC Objectives for Employment Regulations

by Gregory Williams, Esq. | Under Washington State Human Rights Commission (WSHRC) regulations, what are the objectives of its employment regulations, WAC 162-16? Here’s my point of view (NOTE: please read our DISCLAIMER before proceeding).

EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION PROTECTIONS

The Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD) provides protections against employment discrimination (RCW 49.60.180, 49.60.190, and 49.60.200).  See WAC 162-16-200. Further protections against employment discrimination are enumerated in RCW 49.60.172 (unfair practices with respect to HIV infection), RCW 49.60.174 (actual or perceived HIV infection), and RCW 49.60.210 (unfair to discriminate against person opposing unfair practice). See id.

THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE
The overall objective of the WLAD and the commission’s first objective in both writing the associated employment regulations (WAC 162-16) and making future decisions on questions not addressed in the chapter, is to eliminate and prevent discrimination. See id.
FOUR ADDITIONAL OBJECTIVES

The commission maintains four additional objectives in writing the employment regulations under WAC 162-16, as follows:

(1) To be consistent with interpretations of federal antidiscrimination law and the antidiscrimination laws of other states, where these are comparable to Washington law, and where the commission does not find that a different rule would better serve the state of Washington.

(2) To avoid the uncritical adoption of definitions from areas of law other than antidiscrimination law. It is appropriate to define employment differently in different areas of the law to carry out the separate purpose of each area of law.

(3) To give effect to the purposes of the exemption of employers of less than eight from public enforcement of the law against discrimination, as identified in RCW 49.60.040.

(4) The public and commission staff need standards that are certain and that are easy to understand and apply. Therefore we must sometimes simply draw a line, although reasonable persons could differ as to where the line should be drawn.

See WAC 162-16-200.

LEARN MORE

If you would like to learn more, then consider contacting an experienced Washington State Employment Discrimination Attorney as soon as possible to discuss your case. Please note: the information contained in this article is not offered as legal advice and will not form an attorney-client relationship with Law Office of Gregory A. Williams, P.S., Inc.; Williams Law Group, PS; or the author of this article. Please see our DISCLAIMER.

–gw

Author: Gregory Williams, Esq.

Juris Doctor. Admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. Court of Federal Claims; U.S. District Court Western District of WA; and all Washington State Courts. Member of the Federal Bar Association; Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association; WA Association for Justice; WA Defender Association; WA State Bar Association. Conflict Panel Attorney (Pierce County Department of Assigned Counsel).