A King County individual has launched a class action lawsuit against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, contending the organization has routinely breached Washington’s pay transparency requirements across its local operations.
The legal action was submitted in King County Superior Court on April 29, 2026, naming both the Church and its Temple Corporation as defendants. Both entities operate regional offices in Seattle and Bellevue, respectively. According to the filing, the Church has consistently omitted critical compensation details—including wage scales, salary brackets, and benefit summaries—from job announcements posted in the Puget Sound area.
The suit invokes Washington’s Equal Pay and Opportunities Act, which became effective January 1, 2023. This legislation obligates employers with 15 or more staff to incorporate compensation data in all recruitment materials aimed at prospective employees. The complaint maintains that the Church meets and exceeds this employee threshold, yet has not adhered to the disclosure mandate.
Core Claims
Jennifer Easton, a resident of the Seattle area, initiated the lawsuit after applying for a part-time custodial role at the Seattle Washington Temple through LinkedIn in July 2024. Her application, the complaint states, revealed no mention of pay ranges or benefit packages either in the original posting or during subsequent stages of hiring.
Easton reportedly found herself unable to compare the role’s compensation with other opportunities or prepare for salary negotiations, which she says impacted both her financial outlook and professional confidence. The complaint further notes that she invested time in pursuing a position whose compensation structure remained undisclosed, potentially delaying her acceptance of more transparent alternatives.
Exhibit materials attached to the complaint describe the custodian role as physically demanding. Responsibilities include managing industrial-grade tools such as pressure washers, cherry pickers, balers, and forklifts. Candidates are expected to lift up to 50 pounds solo and handle loads of up to 100 pounds in coordination with teammates. A distinctive condition of eligibility is adherence to the Church’s religious standards: applicants must be active members holding a current temple recommend.
Legal Context and Implications
The complaint is structured to align with evolving state regulations. In July 2025, Washington lawmakers extended compliance flexibility for employers, granting a two-year “cure” period for discrepancies in job postings issued between July 2025 and July 2027. This lawsuit, however, focuses on earlier vacancies—prior to that grace period—to ensure accountability for past noncompliance.
The filing situates Easton’s case within a broader effort to address disparities in access to fair compensation. Washington’s legislature has identified pay transparency as a key tool to offset power imbalances between employers and applicants, reduce wage gaps, and curb implicit bias in compensation decisions.
Supporting this objective, the complaint cites legislative findings noting that lower initial pay can cascade into reduced lifetime earnings, diminished household income, and elevated risk of poverty for families. It also references a Duke Law Journal analysis of Colorado’s 2021 pay disclosure law, which documented a 3.6% uptick in advertised salaries among firms that complied with the新规.
A new legal complaint highlights recent data indicating that women in the Seattle metropolitan area currently earn only 78 cents for every dollar earned by men, marking a decrease from levels observed ten years ago.
The lawsuit, filed by a local plaintiff, represents herself and a broader class of individuals who submitted applications for positions with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Washington state. The specified class period spans from April 29, 2023, through July 26, 2025.
Should the court uphold the claims presented, the organization could face significant financial consequences. The filing requests statutory damages of $5,000 for each member of the class, in addition to reimbursement for legal fees and costs, as well as interest accrued before and after a final judgment. The plaintiffs are also pursuing a declaratory judgment that would formally establish the church’s hiring methods as unlawful under Washington statutes.