Supreme Court decides?Allen v. Dameron, affirming individual liability for wages even after bankruptcy

The Washington Supreme Court reaffirmed yesterday that officers, vice principals, and agents of an employer can be personally liable for unpaid wages despite the company going bankrupt, even if the payday on which the wages were due occurred after the bankruptcy was filed. ?The Court had reached the same conclusion in 2009 in Morgan v. Kingen. ?This case came to the Court on a certified question from the federal district court after it had originally attempted to distinguish Morgan. ?The Court also noted that the officers’ participation in the decision to put the company into bankruptcy “tends ?to show a willful withholding of wages” under RCW 49.52.070. ?See the decision HERE.? WELA members Mike Subit and Steve Frank represent the plaintiff;?WELA filed an amicus brief in support of the plaintiff.