All the headlines from our Washington Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Jan 5 2026 // A crew of concrete workers were put in danger during a recent home build in Spokane, prompting a Washington safety regulator to issue $300,000 in fines for exposing them to potential cave-ins and excavation hazards.The...
Jan 3 2026 // A round of changes impacting Washington workplaces now that 2026 has arrived include higher worker pay and several workplace safety alterations.The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries year calculates new...
Dec 17 2025 // Washington Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer issued an emergency order that includes asking insurers in the state to provide grace periods for premium payments and a cancelation moratorium.The order was drafted to...
Dec 16 2025 // Washington Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer issued guidance for flood survivors and the insurance companies and adjusters handling their claims following the evacuation of thousands of Western Washington residents from...
Dec 15 2025 // Washington Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer fined ClearShare Health, Clearwater Benefits LLC, and three related companies $350,000 for selling unauthorized health insurance.Kuderer also ordered the companies to stop...
Dec 12 2025 // Days of torrential rain in Washington state caused historic floods that have stranded families on rooftops, washed over bridges and ripped at least two homes from their foundations, and experts warned that even more...
Dec 9 2025 // A contractor was fined $170,000 for workplace violations that resulted in a 3,000-pound excavator bucket falling on an employee in southwest Washington.The Rotschy Inc. construction company was hit with $170,000 in fines...
Dec 4 2025 // Washington Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer approved nine health insurers to sell group health plans to small employers in 2026. The insurers are: Asuris Northwest Health, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the...
Dec 3 2025 // A working group on wildfires in Washington wants the state Legislature to consider requiring insurers to internally track instances in which wildfire risk materially contributes to a policy nonrenewal, cancellation or...
Dec 1 2025 // The average cost of workers’ compensation insurance in Washington is set to rise 4.9% for 2026.The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries announced that employers and workers will pay on average $1.37...
Nov 26 2025 // Washington Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer ordered Thin Blue Line Benefits to stop selling insurance in Washington after investigators found the company had been operating without the required state license,. The OIC...
Nov 25 2025 // The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries cited 41 people for unregistered contracting, or for unlicensed plumbing and electrical work during inspections at nearly 350 construction sites over the course of...
Nov 24 2025 // Tesla Inc. was sued over a fiery crash in Washington state that left one person dead and another seriously injured after rescuers allegedly struggled to open the vehicle’s doors, the latest in a growing body of...
Nov 7 2025 // An Auburn, Washington woman was convicted for fraud after receiving a lifetime pension following her reported injury while working at a supply company.Lemapu Dorothy Seinafo, 56, pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree...
Oct 31 2025 // Washington insurance regulator fines for violations amounted to $828,500 in July, August, September, and early October of 2025, according to the office of Washington Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer.That tally included...
Oct 30 2025 // A U.S. court reinstated a $185 million verdict against Bayer’s Monsanto unit over chemical contamination at a Washington state school on Thursday.The Washington state Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling that...
Oct 9 2025 // A dairy worker in Skagit County, Washington who said he was too injured to work pleaded guilty to illegally taking workers’ compensation payments.Efrain Alatorre Camarena, 58, pleaded guilty to three counts of...
Oct 1 2025 // The Connecticut family of one of the 67 people killed when an airliner collided with an Army helicopter over Washington, D.C., sued the government and the airlines involved last week, saying they didn’t recognize the...
Oct 1 2025 // Washington’s minimum wage will rise 2.8% next year to $17.13 per hour.The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries announced the increase, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2026. State law requires L&I to...
Sep 23 2025 // Root Insurance has brought its driving behavior insuring pricing model to Washington in an expansion of its West Coast footprint.Root now offers its product to drivers in Washington, Oregon and California. Root’s...