Dick's Drive-In Fined $35K Over Worker Safety Violations

SEATTLE — State labor officials have fined Dick's Drive-In a combined $35,100 and issued a dozen citations after concluding an investigation into employees' complaints alleging poor sanitary conditions and insufficient safety protocols at two locations, according to Working Washington, a nonprofit worker advocacy group.

"It's encouraging to see the state take workers' complaints seriously in this case and step in with enforcement action," said Danielle Alvarado, legal director at Working Washington. "Still, workers had to wait months for the state to issue a finding and address these long standing workplace hazards. When faced with urgent violations of their rights, workers need to know they can count on swift enforcement action that protects their health & safety."

Five Dick's workers filed formal complaints back in March, telling the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries that management failed to meet pandemic health and safety protocols or provide other adequate worker protections at the burger chain's Broadway and Queen Anne locations in Seattle. One complaint alleged management instructed employees not to turn away maskless customers, and another alleged some workers were pressured to come into work while they were awaiting COVID-19 test results.

The complaints filed this year included allegations dating back to 2020. In a statement in March, company leadership maintained that most of the claims were "demonstrably without merit."

L&I's findings, issued in August, were shared Thursday by Working Washington. A copy of a citation report shows the state's investigation found 12 total violations, including seven classified as "serious." Investigators found that Dick's failed to enforce physical distancing and masking rules, along with several other safety requirements unrelated to the pandemic. Other violations included failing to provide proper safety gear to prevent injuries in the kitchen.

In one such finding, investigators wrote:

"The employer did not select appropriate PPE for employees who are exposed to heat and splashes of hot grease while grilling burgers at the Queen Anne and Capitol Hill locations. Upon inspection, it was found that employees frequently suffer from minor burns in their forearms while grilling burgers. Though the employer's hazard assessments for PPE identified exposure to heat to hands and arms while cooking hamburgers, they indicated control methods were not applicable for those tasks."

L&I ordered Dick's to correct each of the violations no later than Sept. 6.