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Interpreters for the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) sued last year, alleging they were owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in missed payments. More than a year later, they say the issue still hasn’t been resolved.

When they filed suit, interpreters alleged they were owed more than 3,500 payments, ranging from $6 to $494, totaling $280,000, dating back to 2021. According to a spokesperson for their union, Interpreters United, the unpaid work continues to “pile up” for language access providers.

Specifically, these interpreters serve those injured while working for an employer that is self-insured and doesn’t participate in Washington’s workers’ compensation system. Such companies must pay for medical services needed after workplace injuries, including interpreting assistance. Self-insurance allows employers, including companies like Walmart, Costco, and Tyson, as well as some local school districts, to exert more control over workers’ compensation claims. Interpreters United is now pushing L&I to pressure those companies to pay up.

“L&I has the authority and obligation to require self-insured companies to pay the compensation owed, but has failed, refused, and neglected to do so,” reads last year’s lawsuit filed in Thurston County Superior Court.

L&I contracts with an outside company to handle the scheduling and payments to interpreters for self-insured claims. Until June 2024, that company was InterpretingWorks, which is named as a defendant in the ongoing wage theft lawsuit. Last year, L&I switched to SOS International (SOSi). Employers who are self-insured are required to compensate the interpreters through the outside company that acts as a middleman.

Matt Ross, a spokesperson for L&I, said the agency has “the same goal as the interpreters: We want to see them get paid what they are owed. We’re working hard to find a resolution for those cases where interpreters haven’t been paid.”

Ross said that since contracting with SOSi, interpreters are being paid on time. “The number of interpreters providing services for workers has also more than doubled, from 254 last June to 520 today,” he said. A spokesperson for SOSi said the company is “committed to ensuring we meet our obligations to pay interpreters in accordance with the terms of our contract with the State.” (The company wasn’t named as a defendant in last year’s lawsuit.)

But even with these assurances, some interpreters don’t want to continue working with L&I. Barbara Robertson, a Swahili interpreter, said it’s “utterly ironic that the agency that investigates and litigates wage theft does not guarantee that interpreters will be paid. Frankly, I’m not inclined to interpret again for a client whose insurer hasn’t paid me.”

Washington State Standard (8/14/25) By Jake Goldstein-Street