McGinnis v. State

We must determine whether the State qualified as an employer under the industrial welfare act (IWA), chapter 49.12 RCW, prior to 2003. If it did, we must determine whether the legislature’s 2003 amendment to the IWA, clarifying that the State is not an employer generally, may apply retroactively.

We find that the State was not an employer under the IWA generally at least as early as 1988. We therefore affirm, on different grounds, the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the State. Because our finding disposes of the controversy in this case, we will not consider the…