Washington Labor & Industries interpreters file wage-theft lawsuit

The contract workers for the state Department of Labor & Industries filed a wage-theft lawsuit against the agency, alleging that interpreters are owed what their union estimates is more than $380,000 for work done over the past three years. The group, many of whom are women of color, also argued in a separate complaint that a recent change in scheduling companies has resulted in missed wages that left workers scrambling to pay their household bills. 

“It’s L&I … it’s who we should be turning to if we have an issue with an employer,” said Denise Sanchez, a 34-year-old interpreter. “I don’t know why they aren’t following their own rules.”

The May 30 lawsuit seeks owed payments for interpreting services performed for self-insured companies that opt out of the public workers’ compensation system. L&I administers payment for medical services, including interpreting, for companies within the system. Self-insured companies independently pay for those legally required services, some of which have remained unpaid. 

“L&I has the authority and obligation to require self-insured companies to pay the compensation owed to [interpreters] but has failed, refused, and neglected to do so,” the lawsuit reads. 

This story is part of Cascade PBS’s WA Workplace Watch, an investigative project covering worker safety and labor in Washington state.

The lawsuit names L&I, several self-insured companies, and the company the agency previously contracted with to schedule interpreters – Interpreting Works – as defendants. Interpreting Works CEO and founder Marisa Gillio told Cascade PBS the self-insured companies had also failed to pay them for the past interpretation services. Gillio said just a small percentage of self-insured companies had not paid her company or interpreters. 

“We are fighting for interpreters to get paid,” Gillio said. “We respect their work and want interpreters to get paid.”

L&I declined to comment on the lawsuit, but spokesperson Matt Ross emphasized the crucial role interpreters serve at the agency.

“Interpreters are essential to what we do – without them we would not be able to effectively serve our diverse customers,” he said. “We appreciate their work and their patience while we established the new scheduling system.”

Magda Enriquez, 36, a single mother of three, said she’s owed between $3,000 and $4,000 from self-insured companies who have not paid for interpreter services.

“L&I is able to pressure these self-insured companies,” Enriquez said. “The director of L&I could come down on the self-insured companies and say, ‘Look, these payments are over three or four years old.’ At this point, these services need to be paid out.”

L&I’s 572 registered interpreters have organized with the Washington Federation of State Employees as they negotiate a first contract. The union has asked for a wage increase, guaranteed timely payment for work done, and to be paid for appointments when the client is a no-show or has a late cancellation. Contract negotiations are now in the hands of an arbitrator, with a decision expected in late September.

“[The] Union feels that LNI has the power to force these coordinating entities to pay up and treat interpreters with respect, so they are not the bulk of what the lawsuit is dealing with but they have huge influence to fix this problem,” Patrick Sugrue, the union’s director of communications, wrote in a email.

The separate wage complaint stems from a switch in mid-June in the company that handles the scheduling and paying of L&I interpreters. The new company, SOS International (SOSi), offers a range of interpretation services, including for the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Half-a-dozen interpreters told Cascade PBS they have had to borrow money, rack up credit card debt or take other jobs as they wait to get paid after the switch. And that complaints and questions to the new company and to L&I often go ignored, or if answered, the response was to keep waiting.

Enriquez said she is also owed money for work done after L&I switched companies, and the delay in payments sent her back into debt. 

“I can’t afford to pay rent and pay bills,” said the Tri-Cities resident, who estimates she is owed about $3,000 for work performed mid-June to late August.

Most interpreters, many of whom translate for patients in the workers’ compensation system, have received only partial wages for work done over the past three months, according to interpreters and the union.

As of late August, Kat Castaneda, 48, said she was missing $500-$600 from SOSi for work done in June and July as she racked up more hours in August, but said she remains uncertain on the exact amount because the payment figures provided when she performed the work do not match what was listed on the invoice.

The Everett resident, who has been interpreting for L&I for about five years, said she had anticipated some delay in payments due to the switch in companies, so she saved enough to cover one month of bills.

When the delay continued into a second and third month, Castaneda borrowed money from family and friends, and maxed out her emergency credit card, she said. 

“I was just so stressed with anxiety,” Castaneda said. 

L&I and SOSi both say the company has kept up with interpreter payments. SOSi declined an interview request from Cascade PBS, instead issuing an email statement and directing additional questions to L&I.

“SOSi has been meeting its obligations to pay interpreters within the timeframes agreed upon by the parties to the contract,” SOSi spokesperson Anna Treszczotko wrote. 

L&I reported it has paid out close to $2 million to SOSi over five payments starting on July 24. 

Ross acknowledged that the delay between the date work was performed and the date it was paid for, combined with the transition to a new company, could be challenging for interpreters. 

“There definitely could have been a gap for some interpreters between payments ending under the old contract and starting under the new one,” he said. “We expect payments to remain timely moving forward.”

Ross said SOSi plans to make pay stubs easier to understand and to create a portal so interpreters can review invoices and see the status of payments. 

Find tools and resources in Cascade PBS’s Check Your Work guide to search workplace safety records and complaints for businesses in your community.

Michel Dill said she stopped working for L&I in August after payments were delayed. The Snoqualmie resident estimates she’s owed about $2,500. 

Dill said she has sent roughly 15 emails to SOSi and L&I about missing wages, but received a response only from a union rep copied on the messages. Other interpreters also complained about poor communication from both L&I and the company. 

Juan Bloise, 45, an interpreter who’s worked for L&I for a decade and a half, questioned why L&I chose SOSi for scheduling services, pointing to the higher rate SOSi charges compared to the two other companies that submitted bids and the company’s past issues with interpreters in California.

In 2018, the National Labor Relations Board found SOSi had violated labor rights when they fired interpreters for pro-union activities. The board ordered the company to provide the workers with back pay. 

Bloise, a former carpet layer, said he became an interpreter after suffering an injury on the job. Almost out of savings, like many others, Bloise said, he has started reluctantly applying for other jobs.  

“We have been looking for other solutions,” he said. “I have love for this profession for serving injured workers. I was an injured worker myself.”