On September 4, 2025, the Washington Supreme Court answered a certified question from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington about who qualifies as a “job applicant” under the pay transparency provision of Washington’s Equal Pay and Opportunities Act (“EPOA”), RCW 49.58.110. The opinion has important implications for Washington employers.
In Branson v. Washington Fine Wine & Spirits, LLC (Total Wine), two individuals applied for positions at Total Wine in Tukwila, WA. One applicant submitted an application through the job posting website Indeed.com. The other applicant submitted an application through Indeed.com as well as Total Wine’s official website, interviewed for a position, and was offered the position, which she then declined. Shortly thereafter, the two applicants filed suit in federal court against Total Wine, alleging the job postings did not comply with the posting requirements of the EPOA, which states that all job postings must include the wage scale or salary range for the position and a general description of all of the benefits and other compensation to be offered to the applicant if hired. On that basis, the applicants filed a class action suit on behalf of all applicants and sought statutory damages under RCW 49.58.070 and RCW 49.58.110.
During the course of litigation, Total Wine argued that the plaintiffs in the case were not the type of “job applicants” the EPOA intended to protect since the statute was meant to...
What You Need to Know The motion comes as class action attorneys are grappling with the advent of third parties that, through the use of technology, have advertised their services to assist poten...