January petitions for review
The Supreme Court granted review of several cases in its January 4 conference.
State v. Chambers, No. 86474-8, James Chambers was the defendant in multiple criminal cases and entered in to a single plea agreement for the multiple charges. He filed a motion to withdraw his guilty pleas. The trial court granted Chambers’ motion. The Court of Appeals (Div. II) held that the plea agreement was indivisible and that the defendant was only permitted to withdraw his plea as to individual charges.
National Surety Corporation v. Immunex Corporation, No. 86535-3, Immunex Corporation was sued along with several other drug manufacturers for using inflated average wholesale prices for reimbursements. National Surety Corporation, Immunex’s liability insurer, brought action against Immunex to determine whether or not they owed duty to defend Immunex in the cases. The lower court ruled they did not owe the duty to defend. Instead, National Surety Corporation must compensate insured for defense costs until the time of the court’s ruling on the duty to defend. The Court of Appeals (Div. I) held that National Surety Corporation was required to reimburse defense costs and was liable for pre-tender defense costs if prejudice was not shown.
Wash. State Nurses Ass’n v. Sacred Heart Med. Ctr., No. 86563-9, The Washington State Nurses Association and a member sued their employer, Sacred Heart Medical Center, for violation of the Minimum Wage Act (MWA). The MWA requires two 10-minute rest breaks during an 8-hour work week. The nurses entered into a collective bargaining agreement that spells out conditions of employment including two 15-minute rest breaks during an 8-hour work week. When a Sacred Heart nurse misses a rest break in an 8-hour period, the nurse receives 15 additional minutes of pay at the regular rate. The Nurses Association sued Sacred Heart, claiming that they are entitled to overtime pay, not regular pay, for a 10-minute (state-mandated) portion of the missed rest breaks.
The superior court ruled in favor of the nurses, ordering that when a state-mandated rest break is missed it constitutes additional “hours worked.” The court agreed that missed breaks should be compensated at time and one half for the first 10 minutes missed but still compensated at straight time for the remaining 5 minutes of break time provided by the collective bargaining act. The Court of Appeals (Div. III) ruled that the regular pay of missed 15-minute rest breaks by Sacred Heart was appropriate and reversed the decision of the trial court.
Roe v. Teletech Customer Care Mgmt., No. 83768-6. TeleTech terminated newly-hired employee Jane Roe (a pseudonym) after she failed a pre-employment drug screening test. Roe was authorized to use medical marijuana under the Medical Use of Marijuana Act. Roe sued Teletech alleging wrongful termination, arguing on appeal that the Act allows a civil cause of action and that it expresses a public policy favoring medical marijuana. The Court of Appeals (Div. 2) rejected Roe’s appeal, noting that the Act only allows a defense to criminal prosecution but does not create any civil cause of action. The ACLU of Washington, which filed a brief in Roe's support, has 
The Washington Supreme Court has agreed to review a Court of Appeals ruling in a case that tests whether the Washington State Gambling Act (chapter 9.46 RCW) applies to an Internet gambling site. The case is 
