Seattle Attorneys Blog

Court Holds Tax-Exempt Status Subjects Private School to Title IX

July 31, 2022 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

Title IX prohibits sex-based discrimination in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance. Public schools are clearly subject to Title IX requirements, but applicability to private schools is less clear. If a private school receives federal financial assistance, it is subject to Title IX, thought there are certain exemptions for educational institutions controlled by religious organizations. Federal financial assistance can include grants and loans, but can also include programs such as the National School Lunch Program and Head Start. A federal court in Maryland recently considered whether tax-exempt status constitutes federal financial assistance.

Former students and parents on behalf of minor former students sued a private high school, alleging the school had failed to adequately address their complaints of sexual assault and sexual harassment by male students. The school moved to dismiss the Title IX complaints, alleging it was not subject to Title IX because it was not a direct recipient of federal financial assistance at the time in question.

The court stated the school’s argument was “without merit” because its “tax-exempt status . . . constitutes federal financial assistance for the purposes of Title IX.”

Recent Changes to Washington Civil Protection Order Laws

July 29, 2022 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

Major changes in Washington’s civil protection order laws took effect July 1, 2022. The changes were intended to update and harmonize laws related to civil protection orders.

Civil protection order laws are now consolidated under RCW 7.105. Under the new law, rules and procedures will be more standardized across the different types of protection orders. There are procedural changes to service of process and hearings. Electronic service is now prioritized except in cases requiring the surrender of firearms, cases involving the transfer of custody of a child, cases involving removal of the respondent from a shared residence, cases where the respondent is incarcerated, and vulnerable adult protection order cases filed by someone other than the vulnerable adult. RCW 7.105.150.

Hearings related to protection orders may be held in person or remotely. The court must allow a party to appear remotely unless it finds good cause to require them to attend in person or by other specific means. RCW 7.105.205.

Washington Appeals Court Upholds Divorce of Foreign Nationals

July 21, 2022 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

Courts must have jurisdiction over the cases they hear. A husband recently challenged the jurisdiction of the Washington court that dissolved his marriage. To petition for divorce in Washington, the petitioner or their spouse must be a resident of Washington. RCW 26.09.030. Washington courts have held that this means a party must be domiciled in Washington.

The wife was a Polish citizen and the husband was a Swiss citizen. They got married in Switzerland in 2012 and then moved with their children to Washington in 2014. They both worked in Washington and enrolled their children in local schools and activities.

The parties separated in October of 2018 and the wife filed for divorce the following April. The husband argued the court did not have jurisdiction over the divorce because he and the children were not domiciled in Washington. The wife testified that the husband’s job was a permanent position and they had no solid plans to go back to Switzerland. She said she considered the move to Washington to be “a new beginning.” She said she intended to remain in Washington permanently with the children, her fiancé, and her new baby.

Washington Harassment and True Threats

July 10, 2022 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

To convict a defendant of Washington harassment, the state must show that the defendant knowingly threatened to cause bodily injury, physically damage someone else’s property, or physically confine or restrain another person, without the authority of law, and placed the threatened person in reasonable fear that they would carry out the threat. Harassment is a class C felony if the threat was to kill the threatened person or someone else. RCW 9A.46.020. Since it criminalizes a pure form of speech, the harassment statute implicates the First Amendment. Washington courts therefore interpret it as criminalizing only “true threats.”

A defendant recently challenged his felony harassment conviction, arguing the state had not produced evidence of a true threat. A man was renting a room in defendant’s home from April to October of 2020. According to the appeals court’s opinion, the defendant yelled at the renter and called him names during a conflict that summer. He also would throw things in his bedroom. The renter heard the defendant having a “tantrum” in the garage on August 23. The defendant told the renter his boxes should be taken out of the garage. The renter said he had misunderstood a text message about when he should remove the boxes. The defendant pointed at him and said he had a gun and would shoot the renter in the head. After the defendant walked away, the renter went back to his own room and called the police.

The defendant was charged and ultimately convicted of one count of felony harassment with a domestic violence enhancement.

Department of Education Releases Proposed Title IX Rule

June 29, 2022 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

The U.S. Department of Education released a new proposed Title IX rule for public comment on the 50^th anniversary of Title IX. This proposed rule has been highly anticipated, and as expected, reverses some of the changes made in 2020.

The proposed rule broadens the scope and application of the Title IX regulations. It states the scope of Title IX is “[d]iscrimination on the basis of sex. . .” Sex-based discrimination under the proposed rule expressly includes discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation, sex characteristics, sex stereotypes, and pregnancy or related conditions. Likewise, the proposed rule includes discrimination on those bases within the definition of “sex-based harassment.” The proposed rule places unwelcome conduct harassment under a hostile environment framework. The definition of “hostile environment” requires the unwelcome conduct to be “sufficiently severe or pervasive” to either deny or limit the person’s ability to participate in or benefit from the education program or activity. The proposed rule further expands the application of Title IX by placing an obligation on schools to address a sex-based hostile environment under the school’s education program or activity even if the harassment occurred outside the education program or activity or outside the U.S.

The proposed regulations also expand the school’s ability to use an informal resolution process to include situations where a formal complaint has not been filed.

Washington Court Denies DOSA Sentence for Multiple Violations of No Contact Order

June 27, 2022 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

Washington’s Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative (“DOSA”) program provides substance use disorder treatment and community treatment to people with a substance use disorder who have committed certain crimes. A DOSA sentence reduces or eliminates the time a person must spend in jail or prison if they complete the treatment and comply with the supervision requirements. A defendant recently challenged a court’s denial of his request of a DOSA sentence.

He was charged with three felony counts of violating a court order, with the state alleging he knowingly violated a no contact order on three occasions and that he had at least two prior convictions for violating a court order.

At sentencing, the defendant asked for a prison-based Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative (“DOSA”), pursuant to RCW 9.94A.660, pointing to testimony from the alleged victim in which she responded “yes” to a question asking if the defendant used methamphetamine. The court described this testimony as inadmissible and prejudicial. The trial court noted that the defendant was facing three cases in a different county and had two prior convictions for violating court orders.

Washington Felony Theft Conviction for Taking Cell Phone

June 14, 2022 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

Washington domestic violence cases often involve allegations the defendant took or damaged the alleged victim’s phone. Taking a phone in such circumstances may result in charges of interfering with reporting domestic violence, but it can also result in theft charges. Given the ever-increasing price of mobile phones, those theft charges can be very serious. In a recent unpublished case, a defendant challenged his second degree theft conviction, arguing the state had failed to prove the value of the phone.

After their romantic relationship ended, the defendant’s ex-girlfriend obtained a no-contact order against him in July 2020.

According to the appeals court’s opinion, the defendant saw her in her truck in a grocery store parking lot, opened her door, threw a drink at her, and struck her multiple times. He also took her phone and the phone of her male friend. A witness called 911.

Modification of Washington Spousal Maintenance after Remarriage

June 6, 2022 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

Washington spousal maintenance generally ends if the spouse receiving then maintenance remarries. In some cases, however, the parties may agree or the divorce decree may provide that maintenance continue beyond remarriage. In a recent unpublished case, a former husband challenged a court order that maintenance continue even after his wife’s remarriage.

The parties’ divorce was finalized in 2018. The decree provided that the husband would pay the wife spousal maintenance for 10 years. The maintenance provision was on a mandatory pattern form used between 2016 and 2019. Under the termination section, it stated that maintenance would end on the death of either spouse or the remarriage or registration of a new domestic partnership of the spouse receiving maintenance unless a different date or event was stated below. Directly below, it stated, “The husband shall pay maintenance for 10 years.”

The wife had been a stay-at-home mother during her marriage to the husband and was not currently employed. The husband earned about $140,000. The wife married someone earning approximately $215,000 per year in 2019.

Court Denies Preliminary Injunction for Student Suspended in Title IX Proceeding

May 31, 2022 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

A preliminary injunction can prevent a university from implementing Title IX sanctions against a student while a lawsuit is pending. To obtain a preliminary injunction, the plaintiff must meet certain criteria, including showing a likelihood of success on the merits, a lack of adequate remedy at law, and a likelihood of irreparable harm without an injunction. A student, identified in the court’s order as John Doe, recently sought a preliminary injunction in a Title IX case in an Indiana federal court.

According to the court’s order, on the night of November 13, 2020, John hung out with another student, identified as Jane Roe, and some other friends in the common room of Jane’s suite. John claimed he went back to his own place, but Jane messaged him asking him to come back at 2:00 a.m.

Jane later alleged John got into her bed and touched her sexually without her consent. John agreed he had helped her into bed, but said he then went back to the common room with the others and denied getting into her bed or touching her. He said Jane later got up and came back to the common room.

Double Jeopardy and Washington Conspiracy Charges

May 30, 2022 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects individuals from being put in jeopardy more than once for the same offense. The Washington State Constitution also protects Washington criminal defendants from double jeopardy. Many people think of the double jeopardy doctrine as preventing a person from being charged with the same offense again after being acquitted, but it also provides protections in other circumstances. Double jeopardy protections prevent a defendant from being charged with the same offense again after being acquitted or convicted and from being punished for the same offense more than once. In a recent unpublished case, a defendant challenged her convictions on three counts of conspiracy to commit murder, arguing that the multiple conspiracy charges violated double jeopardy.

According to the appeals Court’s opinion, the defendant’s husband left her in 2019 after more than 25 years of marriage. He moved to his mother’s property and started dating another woman. A few months later that woman moved in with him.

According to the opinion, the defendant told a friend she wanted to kill her husband, his mother, and his new girlfriend. She told the friend she had been planning to do so. She said she would like for someone to make the murders appear to be a home invasion, but expressed that she would do it herself if necessary.