Personal Liability for Supervisors Under Washington’s WLAD

The Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD) has, since 1949, evolved into one of the nation’s strongest workplace rights statutes. By deliberately expanding the list of protected classes and instructing courts to read the law liberally, the Washington Legislature and Supreme Court have ensured that workplace equality remains a dominant public policy in our state.

A powerful—and often overlooked—feature of the WLAD is that it reaches beyond employers’ corporate identities to individual wrongdoers. Because the statute treats any “person acting in the interest of an employer” as an employer, supervisors who engage in or permit discrimination, harassment, or retaliation prohibited by the WLAD can be sued personally. In practice, a manager who tolerates a hostile work environment, punishes an employee for reporting bias, or blocks reasonable accommodation faces the same civil liability, damages, and reputational harm as the corporate employer itself.

If you have experienced unlawful treatment and need a lawyer to sue a supervisor or business, Seattle Litigation Group PLLC is ready to help. Whether you are looking for contingency fee lawyers or hourly fee lawyers, our attorneys have decades of experience resolving civil litigation, employment law matters, and other complex disputes. Whether you are searching for a trusted civil litigation attorney, an employment lawyer, or a strategic team of attorneys near Seattle Washington, contact Seattle Litigation Group PLLC for a free consultation and results‑focused representation.