Target Settles Washington Pay-Transparency Lawsuit for $2.2 Million

Target agreed to pay $2.225 million to resolve a class action lawsuit alleging the retailer systematically omitted salary ranges and benefits information from its Washington state job postings, a violation of the state's Equal Pay and Opportunities Act.

The case, commonly referenced as Brinkman v. Target, covers anyone who applied for a job with Target in Washington between Jan. 1, 2023, and July 26, 2025. The complaint alleged those postings failed to disclose wage scales or salary ranges and, in some cases, any general description of benefits or other compensation, the specific disclosures the EPOA requires.

Washington's Equal Pay and Opportunities Act applies to employers with 15 or more employees and mandates that all job postings include wage ranges and general benefits information. Target, which operates dozens of stores across Washington and posts positions ranging from distribution-center roles to store leadership, falls well within that threshold. The settlement amount rounds to the $2.2 million figure cited in some reports, but $2.225 million is the precise figure in the settlement.

One consumer-facing report estimated individual class members could receive $1,711 or more, though the sources available do not include the calculation methodology, the total number of claimants, or a confirmed distribution formula from the settlement administrator. That figure should be treated as an unverified estimate until official settlement documents provide the breakdown.

The lawsuit lands at a moment when Washington's legislature is actively working through the edges of its own pay-transparency framework. Three bills, HB 2377, SB 6100, and SB 6221, have been under discussion in Olympia. Their focus is narrow: clarifying the legal definition of "applicant" under the existing law and removing the expiration date on employers' ability to correct wage disclosure errors. None of the proposals eliminate the underlying requirement to include wage ranges and benefits details in postings.

For HR and talent teams at large employers operating across multiple states, the compliance picture keeps getting more complicated. Washington is one of a growing number of jurisdictions with active enforcement of pay-disclosure rules, and the EU Pay Transparency Directive is set to extend similar requirements across most European member states. A $2.2 million settlement over job posting language is a concrete illustration of what noncompliance costs, and that cost is only likely to rise as more jurisdictions add their own requirements to the list.