SEATTLE, WA – The Seattle City Attorney’s Office (CAO) is making it harder to get away with wage theft and other worker’s rights violations, City Attorney Erika Evans announced Wednesday, by refocusing civil staff resources to generate a full-time attorney dedicated to enforcing workplace legal protections. 

“I grew up in a working class household where I was brought up on the values of service, hard work, and always standing up for others,” said Seattle City Attorney Erika Evans. “Wage theft not only harms individual workers but also creates nasty ripple effects that undermine public service funding and undercut honorable employers who play by the rules. I was proud to prosecute a major, egregious wage theft case when I was at the Department of Justice, and now I’m in a position to ensure that the Seattle City Attorney’s Office prioritizes wage theft and worker’s rights by giving them the full attention of a dedicated attorney.”  

Previously, CAO’s legal support to the city’s Office of Labor Standards (OLS) was provided by an Assistant City Attorney who also carried multiple other duties in a combined portfolio.  

Now that position will focus solely on workplace law and wage theft enforcement work, with the rest of that portfolio reallocated to other attorneys. The change provides greater administrative attention and enforcement capacity for pursuing wage theft cases and associated efforts in partnership with OLS. 

Evans announced the newly created position on Wednesday at City Hall, during a rally hosted by the North Coast States Carpenters Union.