In Lowrey v. Oregon Mut. Ins. Co., No. 2:17-cv-00831-RSL, 2017 WL 3769424 (W.D. Wash. Order Dated August 22, 2017, Filed August 29, 2017), the Court signed a Stipulated Protective Order that will make it easier to conceal evidence and keep any future settlement a secret. So secret that the Stipulated Protective Order does not say what kind of case this is, or even what the parties have alleged.
Here is what this case is about. Here is what the parties have alleged, so far. The Stipulated Protective Order intentionally or otherwise does not even hint at these things.
The plaintiff filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in May, 2017. Her complaint was based on the defendant's refusal to hire her because she changed her gender from male to female.
The plaintiff alleged that she changed her gender after some 20 years of handling insurance claims including supervising others in the handling of insurance claims. She alleged that after she told the defendant's interviewers that she, the plaintiff, had changed her gender, the defendant essentially discriminated against her when the defendant interviewed her for an open claims-adjuster position but refused to hire her.
Apparently, one of the defendant's stated reasons for refusing to hire her as a claims adjuster was that she did not have the experience that the defendant was looking for in a claims adjuster.
She alleged three claims: sex discrimination, violation of a Washington statute protecting gender identification, and "retaliation" in connection with the violation of the Washington statute. She sought damages including lost wages and benefits, punitive damages, and attorney's fees. See Janet Lowrey v. Oregon Mut. Ins. Co., DE 1, Complaint, Filed May 26, 2017 (W.D. Wash. No. 2:17-cv-00831-RSL). (NOTE TO MY READERS: The blogging platform for this article, Typepad, does not permit access to the pdf's from the Court file that are pinpoint referenced in this article.)
Oregon Mutual Insurance Company filed its answer on June 30, 2017. It carefully denied most of the plaintiff's allegations by reference to each numbered paragraph of the complaint. It further listed 13 paragraphs of affirmative defenses also essentially denying the plaintiff's allegations. Id., DE 7, Answer of Oregon Mutual Insurance Co., Filed June 30, 2017.
The case has been set for Trial beginning on December 3, 2018. It is expected to last 5 days. Id., DE 10, Order Entered July 18, 2017.
What a lot of things the Stipulated Protective Order does not mention. Many things will be mentioned here about this case, however, as this case proceeds through discovery. Everything revealed here will be what becomes publicly available from the Court file. With this article, we have already begun.
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