Meet Our Staff

Kandis Sells

Employment Attorney

In 50 words or less

Employment law & all things HR guru
Pacific Lutheran University, B.S. of Business Administration
University of Washington School of Law, J.D.
Attorney licensed in Washington
Football fanatic

Experience

With a focus on providing practical, sustainable solutions to employment issues, Kandis provides Vigilant members with legal counsel on all aspects of state, federal, and local employment laws and regulations. Her 15 years of practicing employment law and litigation, and 8 years in Human Resources, allow Kandis to assess employment issues and best practices from application form to the courtroom, and every stage in between.

Kandis was born and raised in Washington, and has lived in several cities across the state. When she’s not guiding members on ways to manage a successful workforce, you can probably find her cheering on her UW Huskies or Seahawks, binge-watching the latest Disney, Star Wars, or Harry Potter movie with her family, or making to-do lists for everything else.

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Kandis Sells

Employment Attorney

Recent Blog Posts by Kandis Sells

Aug 06 2018

Q&ADisabilityHarassment & DiscriminationSafety and Health

Q&A: “100-percent healed” return-to-work policy violates ADA

Question: To avoid workplace injuries, we require all employees to be 100-percent healed without any medical restrictions before they return to work after an illness or injury. We think this is an important policy to protect employee safety, but recently heard it might be unlawful discrimination. Is it?

Jul 02 2018

Harassment & DiscriminationHiring

Q&A: Limit on prior work experience in hiring may be age discrimination

Question: In job postings for our entry-level manager positions, we list the requirements as “3 to 7 years (no more than 7 years) of relevant work experience” to make sure we don’t waste our time interviewing a bunch of overqualified candidates. We recently had an applicant complain that our cap on prior work experience constitutes unlawful age discrimination, but job postings like ours seem really common. It’s okay for us to set a limit on prior experience when we’re hiring, right?

May 30 2018

Harassment & DiscriminationHiringSafety and Health

New domestic violence law expands protections in Washington

Washington has significantly revised its Domestic Violence Leave law to prohibit discrimination against applicants or employees who are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. The new law applies to all employers as of June 7, 2018, and prohibits employers from: Refusing to hire an actual or perceived victim of…

May 15 2018

Harassment & DiscriminationPrivacy & Confidentiality

New Washington laws limit harassment nondisclosure agreements

Washington Governor Jay Inslee has signed two new laws intended to encourage public disclosure and discussion of sexual harassment in the workplace. Both of these laws take effect on June 7, 2018. #1: Substitute Senate Bill 6313 Substitute Senate Bill 6313 makes an employment agreement void and unenforceable if it requires an…

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by Kandis Sells