Washington is an at-will employment state. That means employers can legally terminate an employee at any time, for almost any reason — or no reason at all. But even in an at-will state like Washington, employers cannot terminate or discipline an employee for an unlawful reason. When an employer takes adverse action, it must be able to point to a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason, often shortened to LNDR. Understanding what LNDR means — and how it is used — is central to

Disparate treatment is a form of workplace discrimination that occurs when an employer treats an employee worse than others because of a protected characteristic—such as race, sex, age, disability, pregnancy, religion, or sexual orientation—or because the employee engaged in protected activity, like reporting discrimination or requesting an accommodation. In plain terms, it means this: The same rules exist, but they are applied differently to you, because you belong to a prot