Brian Denlinger

Brian Denlinger handles Ackermann & Tilajef's Washington employment discrimination and harassment matters — including sexual and racial harassment, retaliation, and Title VII civil-rights actions seeking equal pay and promotions — alongside the firm's Washington wage-and-hour class actions on behalf of truck drivers, farm workers, nurses, hotel and restaurant workers, and laborers.

In July 2026, Brian served on the trial team in Hender v. Nike in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. After a trial spanning roughly two weeks, the jury found Nike liable for gender pay and promotion discrimination and returned punitive damages of $7.5 million under federal law and $7.5 million under Oregon law for plaintiff Heather Hender. The verdict remains subject to post-trial proceedings.

He joined the firm's Tacoma office as a senior associate in 2017 and became a shareholder in 2022. Brian is licensed in Washington and Colorado and is admitted to the U.S. District Courts for the Western and Eastern Districts of Washington, the District of Colorado, and the Western District of Michigan, as well as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

He earned his law degree with distinction from the University of Iowa College of Law in 2012, where he was a managing editor of the Journal of Corporation Law, and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Northern Iowa. Before joining the firm, he ran his own practice representing plaintiffs in employment matters, including discrimination cases.