Appeal to Justice is a Blog written by Washington appellate attorney Shannon Kilpatrick. The blog primarily looks at Washington state-related legal issues. Shannon practices at Stritmatter Kessler Koehler Moore in Seattle where she handles civil appeals in state and federal court as well as assisting the lawyers in the firm with cases in trial court.
Jury trials are about to start back up in the state of Washington. On June 18, 2020 the Washington Supreme Court published an order that allows jury trials to resume again on July 6, 2020, for the first time since they were suspended statewide on March 20, 2020.
While the US Supreme Court issued its important decision in the DACA case today, holding the administration’s decision to end the program was arbitrary and capricious, the highest court in the other Washington also released an important decision. In a case involving the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD), the Washington Supreme Court held today that (1) school districts can be subject to strict liability for their employees’ acts of discrimination in places of public accommodation, and (2) the definition of discrimination can encompass intentional sexual misconduct, physical abuse, and assault.
In a much anticipated and landmark ruling today, the US Supreme Court held that under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers may not discriminate against gay or transgender employees simply because they are gay or transgender. In Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, in an opinion written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, the court held by a vote of 6-3 that Title VII’s prohibition against making individual employment decisions “because of … sex,” necessarily included lesbian, gay, and transgender individuals.
The Washington Supreme Court recently decided Robbins v. Mason County Title Insurance, a case involving the insurer’s duty to defend. In that case, the court held Mason County Title Insurance (MCTI) breached its duty to defend and the breach was unreasonable as a matter of law.
In one of the more remarkable opening paragraphs to an opinion I’ve seen, the Washington Court of Appeals recently warned litigants against citing the opinion as authority:
This is a correction of error case. As such, it results in an unpublished opinion. In a correction of error case, we confine our analysis to the issues actually raised and briefed by the parties. In circumstances in which we are not confident that the parties have raised and briefed all pertinent issues, resolution by an unpublished opinion is warranted. This is one such case. Trial courts should exercise great care if asked to apply the result reached herein to any other dispute.
Appellate practitioners in the state of Washington may soon have some significant new rules to be aware of. In November 2019, the Washington Supreme Court published for comment multiple proposed changes to the Rules of Appellate Procedure (RAP). The main thrust of the proposed rule changes is to establish word count limits to briefs and motions, instead of the current page limits that currently govern.
In the “in case you didn’t know, now you know” column, at the end of March, the Washington Supreme Court once again made clear that if you do not properly preserve any and all errors at the trial court level, you may lose the opportunity to argue those errors on appeal.
We are living in unprecedented times. Restricted to our homes except for necessary trips and banned from gathering with others not already living with us, we’ve never had our movement curtailed by the government on such a comprehensive level, at least in my lifetime.