Written by Christopher H. Casey from Duane Morris LLP on Nov 19, 2025
On November 13, 2025, Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown announced the formation of a unit in the state attorney general’s office focused on workers’ rights. Attorney General Brown said the unit will help enforce already strong state laws protecting workers, including laws against wage theft. The move is the latest effort by Democratic attorneys general to strengthen state enforcement of laws protecting workers in response to Trump Administration changes to federal enforcement that they allege have weakened worker protections.
In September, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield announced the formation of a “working families unit” in a new section of the state Attorney General’s Office designed to address “unfairness in the workplace,” in light of “federal rollbacks.” At least 13 state attorney general offices now reportedly have such units, including California, Massachusetts, New York, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Colorado.
Employers with operations in these states face potentially more significant enforcement threats from the state attorneys general than from private suits. Attorneys general can pursue broad investigations and obtain consent orders requiring enhanced reporting or training in areas such as minimum wage, overtime pay, independent contractor classification, meal and rest breaks, recordkeeping and tipping compliance.
