Washington State Human Rights Commission

The term “employer,” for the purposes of this law, includes persons or organizations that employ eight or more persons, and does not include non-profit religious or sectarian organizations. The term “employee” does not include an individual employed by his or her parents, spouse, or child, or in the domestic service of any person.
Employment agencies and labor organizations are also subject to this law.

RCW 49.60.040 defines honorably discharged veteran or military status to include a person who is a “veteran, as defined in RCW 41.04.007” or is “an active or reserve member in any branch of the armed forces of the United States, including the National Guard, Coast Guard, and Armed Forces Reserves.”

Do these protections prohibit discrimination against veterans who have received something other than an honorable discharge?

No. RCW 49.60.040 prohibits discrimination on the basis of veteran or military status only when a discharge has been honorable. There are five types of military discharges including honorable; general; undesirable; bad conduct; and dishonorable. There are many circumstances for which someone may receive something other than an honorable discharge.

Can an employer refuse to hire or fire an individual because of that person’s honorably discharged veteran or military status?

No. Employers may not negatively consider veteran status when making hiring, firing or other employment related decisions, except in cases when veteran hiring preference is allowed or required by law, such as in employment at the state or federal level, depending on the position. Employers are also prohibited from discrimination in compensation and other terms of employment based on veteran or military status.

The statute has no phase-in period. Covered entities should begin to comply immediately.

Will this law require that an employer hire a certain number of veterans?

Hiring practices must not discriminate based on veteran or military status to prevent a company from hiring veterans. The Washington State Human Rights Commission encourages diverse and inclusive hiring practices.

The new statute does cover harassment by co-workers that the employer knows or should have known about, and that creates a hostile working environment for the victimized employee. To determine whether a hostile working environment exists, we would look at such factors as severity, pervasiveness, egregiousness, and frequency of the adverse acts, and whether they were based on the victim's veteran or military status.
The type of working environment is also important. In some types of workplaces, everyone treats everyone else with raw and crude language. We would also look to see if the conditions of work had been changed by the harassment, and whether the employer had taken appropriate action to stop the harassment. Employers should also have anti-discrimination policies in place, and implement and monitor them.

As an employer, what else should I know about veteran and military status discrimination?

During the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, more veterans are returning to the United States with disabilities such as traumatic brain injury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. While people with these disabilities do not necessarily show physical signs of injury, these conditions are still considered disabilities under the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD), RCW 49.60. The WLAD also prohibits discrimination based on disability. Therefore, employers should not discriminate against those returning home from war or other military service based on veteran status or disability status.

What financial penalties can be brought against employers for allowing harassment or discriminatory behavior against employees because of their veteran status? Generally, is one awarded lost wages or is there a financial penalty that people can bring to bear?

When our cases are adjudicated by administrative law judges, and a finding of discrimination is made, a wide range of penalties can be imposed by the judge. We should be able to pursue almost any remedy available at the federal court level under WAC 162-08-298 except the degree of general damages. See also RCW 49.60.250(6) and (7). General damages are limited: the WAC rule cited above prohibits punitive damages and the statute puts a $10,000 limit on humiliation damages. RCW 49.60.250(5). Other than that, the WSHRC should be able to pursue a range of employment "make whole" remedies, such as back wages, front wages, policy change, promotion, hire or reinstatement, accrued leave or other lost benefits, non-retaliation, and ceasing and desisting illegal acts and implementation of policies.

Our state law states that we are to be primarily concerned with achieving systemic changes in discriminatory policies and practices. In many cases where we find discrimination or where a case settles due to pre-finding settlement, the complainant does receive some money. However, the amounts are rarely of the very large size that people read about in the newspapers.

We often seek policy and practice changes by covered entities in settlements, and training for supervisors and managers on civil rights law.

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