Service Employees International Union Local 925, App. v. Dept. Of Early Learning

**Union Loses Fight to Keep Childcare Provider Information Private** This case involved a dispute between a union representing childcare workers and Washington State's Department of Early Learning over whether the state could release providers' personal contact information to the public. The union filed for an emergency court order (called a preliminary injunction) to stop the state from releasing names, addresses, and phone numbers of childcare providers who receive public funding. The union argued that a new law called Initiative 1501, which protects worker privacy, should prevent this disclosure. They also claimed an existing state law exempted this information from public records requests. **What the Court Decided:** The court ruled against the union and allowed the state to release the provider information. The judges determined that Initiative 1501 only applies to records requests made after the law took effect, not to older requests. They also found that existing state law did not protect provider contact information from being disclosed to the public. **Why This Matters for Workers:** This decision shows that worker privacy protections in new laws may not cover situations that happened before those laws existed. Workers whose personal information is tied to public programs should understand that this information might be subject to public disclosure, even when unions try to protect their privacy.