Last month, we asked what seemed like the obvious question about Washington’s new Good Faith and Fair Dealing law: Has anything actually changed?
At the time, the answer was somewhere between “not much” and a deeply unimpressed shrug.
The law had changed. Some forms changed. Some of the language in denial letters changed.
Okay. Cool.
But injured workers were still waiting for treatment. Independent medical examinations were still being used aggressively. Vocational disputes were still popping up early in claims. And self-insured employers were still making decisions that left injured workers wondering whether “fair treatment” was more of a decorative phrase than an actual requirement.
The law changed. The culture didn’t. Over the past several weeks, though, something has started to shift. Not necessarily among self-insured employers. Let’s not get carried away.
The shift is happening among the attorneys who represent injured workers. The conversation is moving away from simply asking what the new law means. It’s becoming more practical. More tactical. More focused on how injured workers and their attorneys can put the law to work.
That’s where the real change begins.
What Is Washington’s Good Faith and Fair Dealing Law?
When the Washington Legislature enacted RCW 51.14.180, it gave injured workers employed by self-insured employers an express right to fair claim handling.
Yes, that raises an uncomfortable question:
Washington law didn’t already require injured workers to be treated fairly?
Well. Ish.
The Industrial Insurance Act has always been intended, at least in part, to protect injured workers. But an express legal duty requiring self-insured employers to act in good faith and give equal consideration to the interests of injured workers is a newer development in Washington workers’ compensation law.
That’s a major step.
But passing a law is only the starting point. Laws establish expectations. They don’t automatically change habits, policies, incentives, or workplace culture. A statute on paper doesn’t instantly stop unjustified denials, excessive delays, aggressive claim tactics, or litigation strategies designed to wear injured workers down.
Real change happens when the law is used. It happens when self-insured employers are required to explain how their decisions were fair, reasonable, and consistent with their legal obligations. It happens when injured workers and their attorneys learn how to turn this new legal protection into evidence, arguments, and accountability.
That is where Washington finds itself now.
The Question Is No Longer Just “Was It Legal?”
For decades, workers’ compensation disputes have focused heavily on whether a claim decision was legally supportable. We’ll ask questions like:
- Was treatment properly denied?
- Was time-loss compensation calculated correctly?
- Was a vocational decision allowed under the law?
- Was the claim closure supported by the medical evidence?
Those questions still matter. A lot.
But the Good Faith and Fair Dealing law adds another layer.
Now we can also ask: Was the claim handled fairly?
Did the self-insured employer give equal consideration to the injured worker’s interests? Was a delay an honest mistake, or part of a larger pattern? Was a denial based on the evidence, or was the employer looking for a reason to avoid responsibility? Was the claim manager trying to reach a fair decision, or simply defending the employer’s preferred outcome?
That shift is important because a decision can look technically defensible when viewed alone but appear very different when considered as part of the claim’s full history.
Evidence Will Shape How the Good Faith Law Works
Attorneys representing injured workers are increasingly focused on evidence rather than legal language alone.
The wording of the law still matters, of course. But the practical question is now: How do we prove what happened?
That means looking closely at documents, timelines, internal communications, claim notes, medical recommendations, treatment requests, payment records, vocational activity, and the reasons given for claim decisions.
Important questions may include:
- What information did the employer have when it made the decision?
- Were medical recommendations ignored or mischaracterized?
- How long did the employer wait before responding?
- Did the explanation for the delay change over time?
- Were similar tactics used repeatedly during the claim?
- Did a series of small decisions create an unfair result?
- Does the conduct appear isolated, or does it suggest a broader claims-handling practice?
A single missed phone call probably won’t prove bad faith. A single late response may be an ordinary mistake. But claims don’t exist as a collection of isolated moments. They develop over weeks, months, and sometimes years. When those moments are viewed together, they can tell a much bigger story.
The Difference Between a Mistake and a Pattern
One issue we expect to become increasingly important is the difference between a simple mistake and a pattern of unfair conduct. Every claims system makes mistakes. Deadlines get missed. Emails get overlooked. Treatment requests fall through the cracks. Someone forgets to return a phone call. People are people. They’re going to mess up sometimes.
The Good Faith and Fair Dealing law was not necessarily created to punish every administrative error.
But what happens when the same kind of error keeps happening?
What if treatment requests repeatedly go unanswered?
What if payment delays always seem to occur at the same stage of a claim?
What if the claim manager orders an independent medical examination immediately after the worker’s attending physician recommends treatment, restrictions, or additional benefits? What if similar decisions appear across multiple claims handled by the same employer or administrator? At some point, “whoops” stops being a very convincing explanation.
The distinction between a mistake and a pattern may determine more than the outcome of one claim. It could influence how Washington courts, the Department of Labor & Industries, and the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals interpret the law in future cases. It could also determine whether the law actually changes claim-handling culture.
Why Documentation Matters More Than Ever
Injured workers don’t need to become investigators or memorize every section of Washington workers’ compensation law.
But they should understand that documentation can matter.
The story of a claim is often built through ordinary records:
- Emails
- Letters
- L&I orders
- Medical reports
- Treatment requests
- Payment records
- Vocational communications
- Notes from phone calls
- Dates when messages went unanswered
- Explanations given for delays or denials
One unanswered email might not mean much.
Ten unanswered emails may mean something very different.
A treatment delay might initially look like an administrative issue. But if the employer had the information it needed for weeks and repeatedly failed to act, that timeline could become important.
This is why injured workers should keep copies of claim-related documents and write down important dates. You shouldn’t have to create a full evidence database while recovering from an injury. That sounds terrible. But saving records and making basic notes can help your attorney understand how the claim was handled and whether a larger pattern may exist.
What Does “Equal Consideration” Mean?
The phrase “equal consideration” will likely become one of the most important—and most debated—parts of Washington’s Good Faith and Fair Dealing law.
Self-insured employers naturally have their own financial and administrative interests. But the law requires them to consider the injured worker’s interests, too. That should mean more than simply acknowledging the worker exists before denying the request.
It may require decision-makers to genuinely consider how delays, denials, and claim strategies affect the worker’s treatment, income, recovery, and ability to return to work.
For example:
- Did the employer fairly evaluate the attending physician’s opinion?
- Did it consider the consequences of delaying treatment?
- Did it investigate the facts before denying benefits?
- Did it communicate clearly and promptly?
- Did it approach the claim with an open mind?
- Or did it begin with the desired outcome and work backward from there?
Those are the kinds of questions that could shape the next phase of Washington workers’ compensation law.
Why Better Claim Handling Helps Everyone
The goal of the Good Faith and Fair Dealing law should not be to create endless new litigation. The larger goal is better claim handling from the beginning. Injured workers who receive timely treatment are more likely to recover and return to work sooner. Whodathunkit?
When valid benefits are paid promptly, workers can focus on healing instead of worrying about rent, groceries, medical appointments, and whether another denial letter is about to show up. When employers and claim administrators communicate clearly, disputes may be resolved before they turn into appeals. When decisions are made fairly, there may be less need for litigation in the first place.
Ideally, the law encourages self-insured employers to recognize that fairness is no longer just a nice idea. It’s a legal obligation.
Meaningful Legal Change Takes Time
Major legal changes rarely transform a system overnight. The Legislature passes a law. Attorneys test it. The Department applies it. The Board interprets it. Courts establish precedent.
Over time, employers and claim administrators adjust because the consequences of ignoring the law become greater than the cost of following it. The gears of justice turn slowly. Sometimes painfully slowly. But the shift from asking, “Has anything changed?” to asking, “How do we make it change?” is meaningful.
It signals that injured-worker attorneys are beginning to move beyond theory and into strategy.
They’re looking at how claims are documented, how patterns can be established, how equal consideration can be evaluated, and how unfair practices can be challenged.
That work may determine whether this law becomes a meaningful protection or just another paragraph in the statute books.
What Should Injured Workers Know?
Injured workers don’t need to understand every developing legal argument surrounding good faith and fair dealing.
But a few practical points matter:
- Keep copies of your claim documents.
- Save emails and letters.
- Write down important dates.
- Document unanswered calls and unexplained delays.
- Pay attention when the reasons for a denial change.
- Ask questions when something doesn’t make sense.
- And don’t assume unfair treatment is simply “how the system works.”
A claim administrator’s decision is not automatically fair just because it appears on official letterhead.
Carlisle Byers Casey Helps Injured Workers Push for Fair Treatment
At Carlisle Byers Casey, we help injured workers throughout Spokane, Yakima, Wenatchee, the Tri-Cities, and communities across eastern and central Washington. We know how exhausting a workers’ compensation claim can become.
You may be dealing with pain, missed work, delayed treatment, confusing paperwork, financial pressure, and claim decisions that don’t seem to reflect what’s actually happening in your life.
Our job is to help you understand the system, protect your rights, preserve important evidence, and push back when a self-insured employer or claim administrator isn’t treating you fairly.
The Good Faith and Fair Dealing law may become one of the most important steps toward restoring balance in Washington’s workers’ compensation system.
But its success won’t depend only on the words the Legislature wrote.
It will depend on what injured workers, attorneys, employers, L&I, the Board, and Washington courts do with those words.
The law gave injured workers a new tool. Now it’s time to use it.
Now it’s time to use it.
Learn How We Can Help You
Something feel off about how your Washington workers’ compensation claim is being handled?
Trust that instinct.
Carlisle Byers Casey can help you understand your rights, evaluate delays and denials, and determine what steps may be available when a self-insured employer isn’t handling your claim fairly.
Contact Carlisle Byers Casey today to learn how we can help you.
