Thurston County Superior Court Judge Paula Casey has ordered the state Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) to pay the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW) $13,109 for attorney’s fees and penalties for violating the state Public Records Act (PRA). Casey found L&I guilty of violating the PRA in October 2002 by wrongfully withholding public documents concerning the Ergonomics Rule exemption the agency granted to Wal-Mart and others that BIAW has requested 241 days earlier that year. Casey ordered L&I to turn over all of the requested documents.

After Casey’s original ruling, L&I attempted to provide BIAW with the requested documents with virtually every line of information covered. BIAW was forced to go back to court to obtain the information. It took a stern reproach from Casey in this second court hearing on November 13, 2002, where she reprimanded L&I for “acting in bad faith,” to convince L&I to finally and fully comply with the law.

The PRA ensures state agencies do not withhold important information from the public and provides mandatory penalties against any state agency found to be in violation. The minimum penalty is $5 per document for each day the document is illegally withheld, and the maximum is $100. It took L&I 241 days to turn over the requested documents. Casey awarded penalties of $10 per day for some documents and $75 per day for others.

In assessing the penalties, Casey ruled the documents withheld should be considered collectively, with the penalties calculated on a per-day basis only, rather than individually. BIAW will appeal Casey’s interpretation of this law, arguing the law clearly states penalties must be assessed per document, per day.