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Jack in the Box operator loses pay transparency coverage ruling - Business Insurance Skip to content Register for free Search Search Log In Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Jack in the Box operator loses pay transparency coverage ruling by Richard Sine Claims Disputes , Employment Practices , P/C Insurers May 28, 2026 A Tokio Marine unit does not have to cover the costs of a class action lawsuit alleging violations of Washington state’s pay transparency law, a federal judge said in another ruling finding that such claims fall outside standard employment practices liability coverage. Houston Casualty won a partial judgment last week in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Feast Foods LLC v. Houston Casualty Co. Judge Richard A. Jones ruled that the underlying class action – which alleged that Feast Foods, a Murrieta, California-based food service company operating Jack in the Box locations, failed to include salary ranges in its job postings – was not covered under Feast Foods’ employment practices liability policy. The underlying lawsuit was filed in early 2025 by a plaintiff who applied for a job at a Jack in the Box location and alleged the posting lacked the pay disclosure required by Washington’s Equal Pay and Opportunities Act, which, since 2022, has required employers with 15 or more workers to include wage ranges and benefits descriptions in job postings. Houston Casualty had agreed to defend Feast Foods only under a limited wage-and-hour sublimit of $25,000 and denied broader coverage. Feast Foods sued, arguing the claims fell within the policy’s coverage for wrongful acts including acts of discrimination. Judge Jones disagreed. The alleged failure to post salary ranges did not “directly result” in an unlawful impairment of employment terms as required by the policy because too many intervening steps separated the non-compliant posting from any actual harm, he said. Judge Jones also found that job applicants do not constitute a protected class under the policy’s discrimination definition, which lists traditional protected characteristics such as age, race and gender. The court left open the question of whether Houston Casualty can deny coverage under its wage-and-hour sublimit. In April, the same district reached the same conclusion on similar grounds in Round One Entertainment, Inc. v. U.S. Specialty Insurance Co. And in March, the same district ruled that sandwich chain Potbelly couldn’t claim coverage under management liability on similar grounds in Potbelly Corp. v. Beazley Insurance Co. Hundreds of class actions had been filed alleging failures to comply with the state’s pay disclosure requirement. The statute allows applicants to sue for $5,000 in statutory damages per violation and class actions under the law can quickly generate potential liability in the millions. Last October, Potbelly agreed to pay up to $2.7 million to settle claims. In November, Axon Enterprise, maker of the Taser, agreed to pay up to $8.5 million. 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