Magula v. Benton Franklin Title Co.

Kathryn Maguía was discharged after 14 years of employment because of the alleged misconduct of her spouse, an independent contractor for the same firm. Although RCW 49.60.020 proscribes discrimination based on marital status and RCW 49.60.180 declares marital status discrimination to be an unfair practice, a definition of "marital status” did not appear in our Law Against Discrimination at the time of the events in this case. Maguía contends marital status discrimination includes action against an employee based on the conduct of that employee’s spouse. Magula’s employer contends marital…