The sad fact is that companies and other employers across the country do a lot to suppress employees’ wages and make it harder for working people to earn a living. A new lawsuit against a major tech company alleges that the tech giant goes a step further by banning employees from taking on second jobs to make ends meet.
Gabriel Fisher, a former tech company worker in Seattle, recently sued the company in King County. Fisher, who is seeking to sue on behalf of a large group of current and former employees, says the company’s blanket policy against allowing workers to take on other jobs violates state law.
“This is a class action lawsuit to remedy Defendant’s business practice of illegally restricting, restraining, and prohibiting low-wage workers from engaging in lawful professions, trades, and businesses and from accepting or transacting business with customers in violation of Washington’s noncompetition law,” the complaint states.
The suit shows the squeeze that many employers put on workers who are simply trying to support their families. It also highlights a unique state law in Washington that limits employers from imposing non-compete agreements and similar restrictions on employees’ outside work.
Specifically, the law prohibits employers from banning workers who make less than twice the minimum wage “from having an additional job, supplementing their income by working for another employer, working as an independent contractor, or being self-employed.”
The suit is likely to cover a wide range of current and former tech employees. The company removed the case from King County to a federal court in Seattle. In court filings, the tech company said more than 1,000 people worked for the company in Washington and made less than twice the minimum wage during the four-year period leading up to the suit.
At Justice Law Corporation, our Washington employment class action attorneys help working people who have been shortchanged or mistreated on the job. Our lawyers can help you determine if you have a retaliation or other claim and take action to enforce your rights. We are experienced lawyers who have a track record of success in court and through negotiated settlements.
The case is a good reminder of the power that working people can wield when they join together to fight back against unlawful employer policies and practices. Here is what you need to know.
How Class Actions Work in Washington
Class actions help employees and consumers level the playing field with massive corporations by allowing them to pursue legal claims collectively. They are common in employment, injury, and widespread fraud cases.
Workers bring class actions to challenge employers’ pay, hiring, promotion, assignments, and other policies and practices that violate state or federal laws. Typically, they allege that groups of workers have been harmed by the same or similar policies or practices.
Class actions are also used to pursue claims for wide-ranging discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. Such suits challenge employer policies and practices that allegedly are biased against people based on their race, sex, religion, disability, or other protected status. They are also used in situations involving widespread workplace harassment that targets people in certain protected classes.
Instead of each employee filing a separate case, a group pursuing a class action combines their claims into one lawsuit. In order to do so, a court must grant approval to proceed as a class action. Courts typically will certify a class if it meets the following requirements:
- Numerosity: The class must be large enough that individual lawsuits would be inefficient.
- Commonality: There must be legal or factual issues shared by all class members.
- Typicality: The claims of the class representatives must be typical of those of the group.
- Adequacy: The representatives and their attorneys must fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class.
Proceeding as a class is usually more efficient and cost-effective. It also often forces employers to take the cases more seriously because of the amount of monetary damages on the line in the combined claims.
This, of course, makes class actions a threat to employers. Employers accused of violating workers’ rights on the job prefer to force employees to bring cases individually, thereby increasing the cost of bringing claims and pushing lowball settlements.
Our Washington employment class action attorneys have significant experience helping workers join together in class actions to fight back. Our track record includes seven- and eight-figure recoveries for groups of workers in healthcare, insurance, defense, oil and gas, manufacturing, and other settings.
The Class Action
The lawsuit against the tech company includes the kinds of legal claims that are ripe for class actions. Specifically, Fisher alleges that the company imposes certain policies on a wide range of workers that violate their rights under state law.
The suit points to the company’s code of conduct, titled “Business Conduct: The way we do business.” This policy unlawfully prevents employees from picking up other work, according to Fisher.
“The tech company restricted, restrained, and prohibited Plaintiff and Class members from having an additional job, supplementing their income by working for another employer, working as an independent contractor, or being self-employed,” the complaint states.
The class action seeks to cover all current and former tech company employees in Washington who earned less than twice the applicable state minimum hourly wage from December 2022 to January 2026. All of these workers were prohibited from holding additional jobs, according to the complaint.
The suit seeks at least $5,000 apiece for each member of the class.
Our Washington Employment Class Action Attorneys Can Help
If you believe that your employer is violating your rights on the job, whether it is through retaliation, wage and hour violations, or otherwise, you do not need to go it alone. A Washington employment class action attorney at Justice Law Corporation can help you evaluate your claim and understand your rights and options. Contact us to schedule a free consultation with a Washington employment class action attorney.
