December 2018 Bar Bulletin
By Andy Kinstler
Employer-side attorneys in Washington have long used the “bona fide” dispute defense to avoid the “hammer” of double damages in wage-withholding litigation. That defense took a serious blow in the case of Hill v. Garda,1 decided by the Washington Supreme Court in August.
The litigation between Garda CL Northwest Inc. and its employees addressed the liability of an employer that fails to make sure its employees get and take meal and rest breaks. In Hill, the Supreme Court addressed again the meal and rest break issues presented in a nine-year-old case where...
