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Despite women’s outstanding athletic abilities and girls’ desire to play, young women have historically been denied the same opportunities to play sports given to young men. Laws like Title IX helped change all that. And the Law Center was at the forefront. We brought one of the first and most important cases involving the rights of Washington women athletes and continue to work for your right to play.
Current Action
- Fighting to get more opportunities for girl athletes in middle and high school sports.
- Advocating for increased monitoring of schools’ compliance with state laws requiring gender equity in education.
- Supporting legislation that would ensure equity in athletic opportunities provided at community parks and recreation centers. See proposed Washington legislation here.
Victories for Women in Sports
- Enforcing state and federal law against athletic discrimination in educational programs. Blair v. Washington State University.
- Requiring local sports programs to provide equal opportunities to girl athletes. Eve Russell v. Seattle Youth Soccer Association; Firebirds Hockey Association v. City of Anchorage.
Title IX and other laws that protect gender equity in education are known best for protecting the right to play sports. But these laws also protect girls and women from discrimination in all aspects of education. The Law Center strives to make sure these laws are enforced, from protecting girls from sexual harassment in schools to making sure that pregnant teens receive the education to which they are entitled.
Current Action
- Investigating cases involving rape and sexual harassment on college campuses. Contact us if you believe your college or university did not take your allegations seriously or otherwise put you in harm’s way.
- Helping teenage moms exercise their rights to stay in school. If you or someone you know is pregnant or a mother in middle school or high school and needs help, contact us.
Victories in Education
- Protecting young women in schools from sexual harassment by their peers. Doe v. Everett School District.
- Successfully representing a middle school student expelled from school solely because she was pregnant. In re S.S.
- Changing the law to prohibit harassment in public schools and requiring the development of statewide guidelines against sexual harassment.
In 2008, women workers in the United States still earn less than their male counterparts for the same work. For women of color, the disparity is even greater. Women have faced a long history of discrimination in the workplace, relegation to low-paying jobs, and harassment based on their gender. Since 1978, the Law Center has been working for equity in the workplace for all women.
Current Action
- Fighting for domestic violence victims’ rights in the workplace. Danny v. Laidlaw.
- Advocating for equality in unemployment compensation. Fariss v. Employment Security Dep’t.
Victories for Women in the Workplace
- Successfully argued to the Washington Supreme Court that an employer’s refusal to employ a pregnant woman is a form of sex discrimination. Hegwine v. Longview Fibre Co.
- Joined other community organizations to successfully urge the Seattle City Council to protect immigrant crime victims in Seattle from unfair enforcement of immigration laws against them.
- Successfully argued to the Washington State Supreme Court to recognize a common law cause of action for termination based on gender discrimination. Roberts v. Dudley.
- Winning lawsuits on behalf of women in non-traditional jobs like firefighting. In re Tanya Pierce.
- Protecting the rights of pregnant women to get the same employment benefits as their male colleagues. Association of Female Firefighters v. Seattle Fire Department Relief Association; Roe v. Doe.
For more than forty years federal and state laws have prohibited discrimination in housing. Yet women continue to face unwarranted evictions and housing denials, particularly when they have been victims of domestic or sexual violence. This is illegal discrimination, and the Law Center is fighting to make sure landlords, the courts, and prospective tenants know it.
Current Action
- Ensuring that landlords follow state and federal laws prohibiting discrimination in housing based on gender or sexual orientation. If you have been unfairly denied housing on the basis of sex or sexual orientation, contact us.
Victories
- Writing and helping to pass a law that protects victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking from housing discrimination. For information on your legal rights, see Landlord/Tenant Issues For Survivors of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and/or Stalking.
Anti-discrimination laws require any place that serves the public - including some supposedly private social clubs - to serve people without discrimination. If someone tries to discriminate based on gender, the Law Center takes action.
Victories
- Winning court cases in Oregon and Washington requiring the Fraternal Order of Eagles to admit women as members. Grand Aerie FOE v. FOE Tenino Aerie No. 564; Lahmann and Shimer v. Grand Aerie, FOE.
- Working with other community groups to change Washington law to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
Equality. It is guaranteed by the federal constitution and by the constitutions of every state in the Northwest. And the Law Center is there to make sure that women’s rights to privacy, to equal treatment, and to access to the courts are realized.
Current Action
- Advocating for equality in unemployment compensation. Fariss v. Employment Security Dep’t.
- Challenging the denial of unemployment benefits to a worker who leaves a job to care for a domestic partner.
Victories in Constitutional Rights for Women
- Enforcing state and federal law against athletic discrimination in educational programs. Blair v. Washington State University.
- Striking down Montana’s “sexual deviant conduct law” that criminalized intimate sexual relationships between consenting adults of the same sex. Gryczan v. Montana.
- Requiring the State of Alaska to correct discriminatory conditions suffered by women prisoners. Cleary v. Smith.
- Successfully bringing suit, along with Columbia Legal Services, to require the State of Washington to provide equality in women’s health care to incarcerated women. Hallett v. Washington Corrections Center for Women.