From Judge Barbara Jacobs Rothstein's opinion yesterday in Olympus Spa v. Armstrong (W.D. Wash.):
The Olympus Spa is a Korean spa "specifically designed for women," and the services offered there "are closely tied to the Korean tradition," meaning patrons are "require[d] … to be naked" during certain services. The facilities include "a bath area containing multiple whirl-pools, a traditional Korean body-scrub service area, standing showers, sit-down showers, a steam room, and a dry sauna." As noted, patrons are "typically fully naked" while utilizing these areas and thus "have visual access" to other nude patrons. Nor is nudity optional. It is allegedly "required for certain procedures called 'Seshin'" pursuant to Korean tradition. According to Plaintiffs, female patrons receiving a Korean body scrub "must do so unclothed," and all employees who provide those scrubs ("ddemiri") are women.
Olympus Spa maintains a "female-only policy" under which it restricts admission to women—or, more specifically, individuals who "physically present[ ] in the nude as … female." It apparently advertised this entry policy on its website with the following language: "Biological women are welcome[.] It is the policy of Olympus Spa not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national original, sex, age, or disability in its programs or activities, as required by applicable laws and regulations." Olympus Spa thus admits transgender women only if they have "gone through post-operative sex confirmation surgery." Plaintiffs attribute the policy to their "traditional, theologically conservative" Christian values. They believe in "modesty as between the sexes" and "hold the conviction that a male and female should not ordinarily be in each other's presence while in the nude unless married to each other." See also Dkt. No. 1-2 at 4 ("Women are in a vulnerable position when they are unclothed and/or having treatment while unclothed and we seek to ensure that they feel their privacy and rights are respected. This is a biblical principle from 1 Peter 3:7, 1 Timothy 3:1-7, 1 Timothy 5:2, Phillipians 4:3, Genesis 1:27, Proverbs 31:17, Phillipians 2:3 and more."). The Jane Doe Employees accordingly refuse to perform massages or body scrubs on naked men. And Jane Doe Patron, a Christian "who frequently receives treatments at Olympus Spa," likewise "believes that men and women should not be viewing each other's naked bodies unless married to each other." …
The Washington State Human Rights Commission concluded that the spa's policy violated Washington's ban on gender identity discrimination in public accommodations, and the court held that this didn't violate the Free Exercise Clause, Free Speech Clause, or the right of intimate association:
