Gainey Law, PLLC Seattle Employment Law Attorney

 RESOURCES FOR WA WORKERS SUFFERING IN DIFFICULT WORKPLACES When you’re being mistreated at work — targeted, sexually harassed, or punished for speaking up — it can be hard to know where to turn. You don’t have to navigate it alone. Washington has strong worker-protection laws and several organizations that offer free or low-cost guidance, even if you aren't yet ready to hire an attorney. Below are reliable starting points for understanding your rights, finding support, and taking action to protect yourself. Each link leads to a legitimate state or nonprofit resource that can help you make informed choices about your next steps. Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries provides comprehensive information on workers' rights in Washington, including wage and hour laws, workplace safety standards, and workers' compensation benefits. Great if you need your former employer to pay out you...

 The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released data confirming what plaintiff's employment attorneys (and Human resources professionals) already knew: that not only is sexual harassment targeting women more prevalent in the workplace so are all forms of discrimination and harassment and retaliation. ( read the full EEOC report here ) Of the nearly 30,000 complaints filed between 2018 and 2021, 78.2% of complaints  of sexual harassment were reported by women, and women made of 62% of the 98,000 total harassments charges alleging any basis (e.g. race, national origin). Keep in mind the numbers are much more sobering as 87% of sexual harassment victims still do not report the sexual harassment they suffer in the workplace for fear of retaliation. This number is down only a few percentage points since 2016.      The numbers on the lack of reporting of sexual harassment was originally published in a 2016 EEOC report. Now updated to focus on charges ...