Latest Washington Headlines

All the headlines from our Washington Topic Page, ordered by recency.

People Moves: Surplus Line Association of California Names Beaver Board Chair, Gobler Vice Chair, Washington Secretary

Feb 28 2022 // The members of the Surplus Line Association of California elected Janet Beaver as chair of the SLA board. Eligible members of the SLA elected her via an electronic vote taken prior to the SLA’s virtual annual meeting...

Washington Inmate’s Family to Get $3.75M in Cancer Death

Feb 25 2022 // Washington state will pay $3.75 million to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit brought by the family of a man who died at Monroe Correctional Complex after his cancer went untreated despite repeated pleas.Kenny Williams, 63,...

People Moves: California FAIR Plan Makes Roach President; Wood Named Washington Chief Deputy Commissioner

Feb 24 2022 // Victoria Roach has been appointed by the California FAIR Plan’s executive committee to serve as the association’s next president.Roach will assume the new role on March 1, succeeding Anneliese Jivan, was...

School District in Washington Offers $34M in Toxic Exposure Case

Feb 21 2022 // The Monroe, Washington, School District offered a $34 million settlement to students and parents exposed to toxic chemicals on a public school campus.The district proposed the settlement in November under court seal,...

Washington Businesses Fined After 250 Workers Contract Virus in Same Warehouse

Feb 21 2022 // Three Washington businesses were fined after workers housed in Thurston County hotels and employed at a Lewis County distribution center got sick with COVID-19, and then walked to the hospital for help and feared they...

Family of Oregon Man Whose Car Crashed off Bridge into River Sues

Feb 18 2022 // The family of a Portland, Oregon, man whose car slid off the Glenn Jackson Bridge and plunged into the Columbia River during a winter storm is suing the Oregon Department of Transportation for $12 million.A crash...

Washington Roofing Manufacturer Fined $100K in Worker Death

Feb 18 2022 // The failure to follow lockout/tagout procedures was directly connected to the death of a worker in Sumas, Washington, when an agitator arm inside a tank he was cleaning turned on, according to the Washington State...

Insurers Taking Battle with Commissioner to Washington Supreme Court

Feb 17 2022 // Insurer groups this week sought to take their battle with Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler to the Supreme Court of Washington.The American Property Casualty Insurance Association, the Professional Insurance...

Court Upholds Decision Not to Certify Class in Washington Auto Case

Feb 14 2022 // The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the district court’s decision declining to certify a proposed damages class in an auto insurance diversity action in Washington involving Liberty Mutual.This case centers...

Criminals Gained Access to Info on 650K Through Washington Database

Feb 14 2022 // Investigators believe hackers stole at least some of the Social Security numbers and other sensitive personal data of 650,000 current and former Washington state professionals and business owners during a breach of a state...

Washington Businesses Fined After 250 Workers Contract Virus in Same Warehouse

Feb 11 2022 // Three Washington businesses were fined after workers housed in Thurston County hotels and employed at a Lewis County distribution center got sick with COVID-19, and then walked to the hospital for help and feared they...

Washington Database May Expose Personal Information

Feb 9 2022 // The Washington State Department of Licensing said the personal information of potentially millions of licensed professionals may have been exposed after it detected suspicious activity on its online licensing system.The...

School District in Washington Offers $34M in Toxic Exposure Case

Feb 9 2022 // The Monroe, Washington, School District offered a $34 million settlement to students and parents exposed to toxic chemicals on a public school campus.The Seattle Times reports the district proposed the settlement in...

Couple Accused of Laundering $4.5B in Bitcoin Tied to 2016 Hack

Feb 9 2022 // The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday it has unraveled its biggest-ever cryptocurrency theft, seizing a record-shattering $3.6 billion in bitcoin tied to the 2016 hack of digital currency exchange Bitfinex and...

Traffic Control Firm in Washington Ordered to Pay $250K to Workers

Feb 8 2022 // Seattle’s Office of Labor Standards says a traffic control company has agreed to pay more than $250,000 to settle wage theft allegations.Officials alleged that Traffic Management Industries failed to pay its workers...

Washington Woman Who Says Coach Raped Her at Age 16 Will Get $7.5M

Feb 7 2022 // A woman has received $7.5 million from the Olympia-based Blackhills Football Club to settle a lawsuit that alleged she was raped by her soccer coach in an Oregon hotel room when she was 16.Darrell Cochran, who represented...

Insurer Groups Sue to Stop Washington Credit Scoring Regulations

Feb 3 2022 // The American Property Casualty Insurance Association, the Professional Insurance Agents of Washington, and the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of Washington jointly filed two legal actions to halt the enforcement...

Washington Commissioner Adopts 3-Year Credit Scoring Ban, Proposes Transparency Rule

Feb 1 2022 // Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler has adopted his rule banning insurers from using credit information to set auto, homeowner and renter insurance for three years.Kreidler’s rule temporarily banning...

MyShake Earthquake Warning App Available in Washington

Feb 1 2022 // A new earthquake-warning app is available for Washington state.The state said there are already two warning systems in place, but the MyShake app provides a third and possibly quicker option, The Seattle Times reported....

BP Fined $100K for Washington Pipeline Gasoline Spills

Jan 31 2022 // The Washington Department of Ecology is penalizing British Petroleum $100,000 for two Olympic Pipeline gasoline spills in a Seattle suburb.BP did some construction on the Olympic pipeline in Woodinville on Feb. 21, 2020,...