The Commissioner's Review Office (CRO) publishes precedential decisions of commissioner as permitted by law:
- RCW 42.17.260.
- RCW 50.32.095.
How to search for decisions
Enter keywords in the search field on this page. Use words pertinent to the topic of your appeal. For example, if you are looking for cases about quitting, try entering "voluntary quit." Or if you are looking for cases about being fired, try entering "discharge."
About the decisions
The Employment Security Department and the Office of Administrative Hearings must follow these precedents. Other courts have used them as persuasive authority.
You should read precedential decisions of commissioner in the context of current statutes, regulations and appellate court decisions.
If you rely on a precedential decision to support your appeal or petition, you should include a citation to that decision.
Citation format
Precedential decisions of commissioner are published in a first and second series.
- The first series: case numbers 100 through 1299(a), covers April 14, 1954, through Oct. 10, 1975.
- The second series: starts over with case number 100, covers Oct. 17, 1975, through the present.
Use this citation format for precedential decisions of commissioner:
- First series — In re Staeger, Empl. Sec. Comm'r Dec. 100 (1954).
- Second series — In re Griggs, Empl. Sec. Comm'r Dec.2d 100 (1975).
If you use AI as a resource for your appeal or petition
We have received petitions that reference fake cases and laws when appellants use generative AI. Generative AI can make mistakes.
Reliable source materials include:
- Our precedential decisions.
- Title 50 and 50A RCW.
- Title 192 WAC.
- Published decisions from the Washington Courts of Appeals.
- Published decisions from the Washington Supreme Court.
About accessibility
The commissioner’s precedential decisions for 2025 and prior years do not meet all accessibility standards. The legal profession uses standard practices, such as bold, italics and underlining, that do not meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
Starting with 2026 decisions, we will retain the bold, italics and underlines that the legal profession uses. But we are ensuring the documents are otherwise accessible.[