In Washington, a misleading subject line is an automatic violation
Can a false urgency subject line get you sued?
Washington State · United States
In one sentence
In Washington, a false subject like “Today only” on a multi-day sale is treated as a consumer-protection violation — not cute marketing.
Emailrules interpretation
Washington’s commercial email law hits misleading subject lines hard. Urgency that is not true (fake deadlines, fake scarcity) is not “copywriting licence” there. Fix the subject, not just the footer.
Why it matters. Exposure scales with volume and class actions. Clever subjects that lie are a legal risk, not a growth hack.
Dotted words open definitions. See how email actually works.
What to do
Your move — not a lecture
This one needs you
No platform does this for you. One concrete move, then you are done.
Nothing. No reads your subject line against your promotion calendar, and none of them will.
Your part: Every time-bound and discount claim you write, and being able to show later what the offer actually was.
What to do first
Search your evergreen flows for "today", "tonight", "24 hours" and "ends". A welcome email that has said "today only" every day for eighteen months is the worst version of this, and it is extremely common.
You can skip this if: There are no US consumers on your list. If there are any, assume some of them are in Washington.
Who this applies to
Any sender emailing an address they know or have reason to know belongs to a Washington resident. Your company does not need to be in Washington, which means practically every US consumer brand is exposed.
Checklist
- 01Check every time-bound claim in a subject line against the promotion's real schedule before sending.
- 02Check discount claims against what the coupon code actually does at checkout.
- 03Keep a dated record of what each campaign claimed and what the offer really was. The record is the defence.
- 04Watch recurring evergreen flows hardest. A welcome flow that has said today only for eighteen months is the worst case.
That’s enough to act. The exact wording, the enforcement record and every primary source sit under Proof & sources, for counsel, bosses, or AI tools that need a citation. Not legal advice.
Proof
Exact position, enforcement, sources
For records and people who will check you. Skip if Monday’s move is already clear.
Source fact
Washington's Supreme Court held that the state's Commercial Electronic Mail Act bars any false or misleading information in a commercial email subject line, not only information about the message being commercial. A subject line reading 50 percent off today only, on a promotion that runs three days, is a violation. A violation is automatically a Consumer Protection Act violation as well.
What happens if you do not
Very real. Arnold and Porter counted over 100 suits in the twelve months after the ruling, against eight in the preceding two decades. Defendants include Wayfair, Dick's Sporting Goods, Williams-Sonoma, Cole Haan, L'Oréal USA and Nintendo of America, and the docket shows repeat plaintiffs, which is the signature of an organised plaintiffs' bar. Note that damages were cut in June 2026, see the related rule.
Sources
- Brown v. Old Navy, LLC, Washington Supreme Court No. 102592-1, 4 Wn.3d 580, 567 P.3d 38Published 17 Apr 2025Read primary source
- RCW 19.190.020, Unpermitted or misleading electronic mailPublished 11 Jun 2026Read primary source
History of this page
- Cross-referenced the June 2026 damages amendment.
- Added.
Related
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