Daily legislative report for Thu., Jan. 28, 2021 - VIDEO

The Journal of Olympia, Lacey & Tumwater Presents The Daily Legislative Report, covering The 2021 Washington State Legislature.

On Thursday, January 28th, The Senate Labor, Commerce & Tribal Affairs Committee gave Senate Bill 5172 a public hearing. The legislation would cap retroactive overtime claims in exceptional cases. This legislation stems from the Washington State Supreme Court 5-4 Decision November 9, 2020, which retroactively provided that farm workers can gain overtime.

The ruling came in a 2016 lawsuit that two workers, Jose Martinez-Cuevas and Patricia Aguilar, brought on behalf of 300 workers against DeRuyter Brothers Dairy in Outlook, southeast of Yakima. The dairy’s milking facilities were operated around the clock, and workers were required to stay until all cows were milked and to help clean the barn.