Melissa Lehane Rawlinson

Last month, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals furthered a trend of ruling favorably for religious organization employers in Union Gospel Mission of Yakima v. Brown. In a case specific to Washington, the Ninth Circuit interpreted how the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD), RCW 49.60, applies to religious organizations who are employers.

Last week, the Ninth Circuit upheld Oregon’s conversational privacy statute as constitutional, finding that Oregonians have an interest in knowing when in-person conversations are recorded and that these recordings require notice. In workplaces throughout our state, where nearly every employee carries a personal phone with a recording app, this restriction limits surreptitious recordings and affirms the right to know when a conversation may be permanently memorialized.

On Tuesday, January 7, 2025, the Ninth Circuit upheld Oregon’s conversational privacy statute as constitutional, finding that Oregonians have an interest in knowing when in-person conversations are recorded and that these recordings require notice.