Adam Berger 
Tom Breen 
Martin Garfinkel 
Kathy Goater 
Lindsay Halm 
Kristin Houser 
Jeff Robinson 
Rebecca Roe 
Sims Weymuller 
Sandy Widlan 
Janet Rice 
William Rutzick 
Anne Kysar 
Brit Mercer 
Linda Worthington 
Attorneys at Schroeter Goldmark & Bender (Martin S. Garfinkel, Adam J. Berger, and Lindsay L. Halm) have filed a class action complaint on behalf of workers from Extra Car Airport Parking, Inc. in SeaTac, who were not paid the $15.00 per hour minimum wage as required under the new SeaTac Ordinance that went into effect on January 1, 2014. For more information, see the attached press release and complaint.
SGB attorneys Marty Garfinkel and Adam Berger and our friends at Columbia Legal Services filed a case in federal court on behalf of farm workers against a Yakima Valley grower concerning H-2A, guest worker violations. Read about it in the Yakima Herald.
Washington State Labor Council’s Internet Newspaper, The Stand, commends Schroeter Goldmark & Bender attorneys Adam Berger, Kristin Houser, Rebecca Roe and William Rutzick for not attending the WSBA awards dinner to honor the Hyatt boycott.
Read the entire article
http://www.thestand.org/2013/10/attorneys-honor-hyatt-boycott-rather-than-accept-bar-awards/
Schroeter Goldmark & Bender attorneys Adam Berger, Kristin Houser, Rebecca Roe and William Rutzick received the WSBA Award of Merit for their pro bono work representing Governor Gregoire in support of the Affordable Care Act. Their briefing on the Healthcare Case was recognized by the Supreme Court justices in their final decision.
View the WSBA video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_4fAMsofi0&feature=youtu.be 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Seattle) Amazon.com and its warehouse staffing agency have been sued today in federal court in Seattle. The case, Allison v. Amazon.com and Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc., alleges Amazon failed to pay workers for time they were required to spend in security lines waiting to undergo searches during their lunch breaks and at the end of their shifts. Workers leaving the warehouses are required to clock out before standing in line at security check points, resulting in an average approximate 25-minute wait because of the large number of employees in the huge facilities. The workers are not allowed to have personal items such as phones, personal electronic devices, or books in the facility, and have no way to use the time waiting in line for their own purposes.
Amazon warehouses, known as “fulfillment centers,” are located in fourteen states, including three in Washington, which is home to Amazon. The lawsuit is filed as a “collective” action under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act that applies to employees nationwide. The suit will also include class actions for workers in some states, such as Washington and California, where state labor laws offer greater protection to the workers than afforded under federal law.
Many warehouse employees are technically hired by the staffing agency, Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc., which is also a defendant. In April 2013, the 9th Circuit held that a case for unpaid time brought by workers in the state of Nevada could proceed.
The nationwide lawsuit in Seattle was filed by the firms Johnson Becker of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Sommers Schwartz, P.C. of Southfield, Michigan, The Maher Law Firm of Orlando, Florida, and Schroeter, Goldmark & Bender of Seattle, Washington.
Amazon workers who may be part of the class are urged to contact one of the law firms bringing the case:
Contact
Adam J. Berger
(206) 622-8000
Schroeter Goldmark & Bender attorneys Marty Garfinkel and Adam Berger are victorious in representing employees in a class action lawsuit against Bethlehem Construction. 328 workers will receive payments of between $100 and $60,000 each under the settlement award in the case.
Class Action Settlement against Bethlehem Construction – Puget Sound Business Journal Story 10-23-12
$5.5M Class Action Settlement against Bethlehem Construction – Seattle Times Story 10-25-12
On June 28, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. SGB is honored to have participated in this historic decision by representing Washington’s Governor, Christine Gregoire, as amicus curiae (friend of the court) in the case.
View Governor Christine Gregoire Press Conference here.
Govenor Chris Gregoire gave a special “thank you” to the Law Firm of Schroeter Goldmark & Bender and their attorneys for their tireless efforts to defend the law. Pictured left to right: Rebecca Roe, William Rutzick, Govenor Gregoire, Adam Berger, Kristin Houser and Ann O’Neil (SGB paralegal).
