AWB Case Studies
Hulbert Pontiac-Cadillac
Equal Access to Justice for AWB’s Small Business Members
The Mother of All Inspections:
It was called the “Mother of All Inspections!” Steve Hulbert, then owner of Hulbert Pontiac-Cadillac, invited federal, state and local inspectors to his small dealership in Olympia in the early 1990s. Steve’s goal was to write a State of Washington addendum to General Motors “Best Practices” Manual. It was a voluntary effort on Hulbert’s part but in the end, that voluntary inspection landed Hulbert with three citations from Washington’s Dept. of Labor and Industries (L&I) and fines of $4,000 for minor infractions he didn’t know existed. When asked where he would find the information about the minor infractions, the inspectors handed him a book of regulations the size of the Seattle telephone directory and said: “They are in here! You’re supposed to know what is in this manual.” Through the appeals process and after $2,000 in legal expenses, L&I dropped the citations and fines, but Hulbert was out his legal costs.
Here’s How AWB Helped Hulbert and Our Members by Changing the Law
Using Steve Hulbert’s example, AWB launched its regulatory reform effort. As a result, legislation was enacted in 1994 and 1995 which provided for the following:
• Technical Assistance Visits—not inspections—which allows inspectors and employers to correct problems without fines, citations and retribution. If an employer unknowingly is violating laws or regulations—like Steve Hulbert—the agency would assist rather than cite and fine. Fines and penalties would kick in if the employer refuses and is recalcitrant.
• Small businesses are allowed to recover legal fees up to $10,000 if they are cited by a state inspector inappropriately. We call it “Equal Access to Justice” and the legislature agreed and passed that concept into law. In Hulbert’s case, he would have not only been relieved of his $4,000 fines, but reimbursed for his $2,000 in legal expenses.
Without AWB, Regulatory Reform in our state would be just a dream
….Just ask Steve Hulbert how AWB came through for his Small Business
