In yet another legal victory over the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I), Thurston County Superior Court Judge Paula Casey ruled in favor of the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW), holding the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries violated the state Public Records Act (PRA) by refusing to make available public records requested by BIAW earlier this year. Casey ordered L&I to turn over all the requested documents.

The story was the front page feature in the last issue of the Business Journal.

The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed last month by BIAW, the Allied Daily Press and Washington Newspaper Publishers Association alleging L&I failed to uphold the letter and the spirit of state public record disclosure requirements by improperly withholding documents from the general public.

BIAW has, over the course of several months, repeatedly asked L&I for a full list of companies to which it has written such exemption letters. L&I has repeatedly refused these requests. After filing the lawsuit to force L&I to comply with the PRA, the Allied Press Daily and Washington Newspaper Publishers Association joined BIAW in asking the court to compel L&I to hand over the documents.

In March BIAW made a public records request under the state PRA to obtain information relating to L&I’s exemption of certain companies from the newly adopted ergonomics regulations. BIAW asked L&I for a list of all companies to which the agency has extended such exemptions. Under the PRA, state agencies are required to promptly make available to the public almost all documents held by the agency. BIAW requested copies of such documents and L&I refused to provide the requested records, claiming they are confidential and exempt from the PRA.

BIAW made the disclosure request after obtaining a copy of a letter L&I Director Gary Moore sent to Wal-Mart executives in January promising the company an exemption from the new ergonomics rules if a proposed food distribution center was located in Washington State. Wal-Mart had previously expressed concern with the ultra-restrictive ergonomics rules, testifying publicly against their adoption and warning they would likely prevent Wal-Mart from locating the distribution center in Washington due to the enormous costs associated with compliance.

In his letter, Moore referenced his tour of a Wal-Mart distribution center in Templeton, Texas similar to that proposed in Washington State. Based on that tour, Moore determined Wal-Mart is doing everything necessary to protect its employees from ergonomics hazards and exempted the company from complying with the most onerous of the so-called hazardous job exposures. Moore concluded in this letter, “I trust this will resolve any remaining concerns about the effect of the Washington State Ergonomics Rule on your (Wal-Mart) site-location process.”

Safeway was later granted a similar exemption, as were some other companies.

The PRA exists to ensure state agencies do not withhold important information from the general public and provides for mandatory penalties against any state agency found to be in violation. BIAW will now seek the maximum penalties possible, as well as attorney’s fees.