Court OKs $57M verdict for WA home-care workers

Headline Legal News

Washington's Supreme Court on Thursday narrowly upheld a $57 million verdict against the state in a case brought by workers who care for severely disabled people. But the justices declined to give the workers pre-judgment interest — throwing out an additional $39 million awarded by a lower-court judge.

The 22,000 workers claimed they were shortchanged by a 2003 rule from the Department of Social and Health Services that automatically cut their pay by 15 percent. The rule was based on the rationale that because the caregivers lived with their charges, then some of the work performed — cooking, for example — also benefited the caregiver, who shouldn't be paid for it.

The high court struck down the rule in 2007 as inconsistent with federal Medicaid requirements, and the workers sued to get the money they said they were owed. After tortuous litigation that included a detour into federal court, a Thurston County Superior Court jury sided with the workers in 2011 and awarded $57 million. The state appealed, but the high court sided with the workers 5-4 Thursday.

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USCIS Issues Clarifying Guidance on NAFTA TN Status Eligibility for Economists

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it is clarifying policy guidance (PDF, 71 KB) on the specific work activities its officers should consider when determining whether an individual qualifies for TN nonimmigrant status as an economist.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) TN nonimmigrant status allows qualified Canadian and Mexican citizens to temporarily enter the U.S. to engage in specific professional activities, including the occupation of economist. The agreement, however, does not define the term economist, resulting in inconsistent decisions on whether certain analysts and financial professionals qualify for TN status as economists.

TN nonimmigrant status is intended to allow a limited number of professionals and specialists to work temporarily in certain specifically identified occupations in the United States. This updated guidance provides USCIS officers with a specific definition of one such category – economists – allowing them to adjudicate applications in a way that complies with the intent of the agreement. This policy update clarifies that professional economists requesting TN status must engage primarily in activities consistent with the profession of an economist. Individuals who work primarily in other occupations related to the field of economics — such as financial analysts, marketing analysts, and market research analysts — are not eligible for classification as a TN economist.

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