Facts: Petitioner John Hale filed suit against his former employer, the respondent Wellpinit School District #49, in the Superior Court for Stevens County, alleging that he had been discriminated against on the basis of disability in violation of Washington Revised Code §49.60. The trial court granted summary judgment for the Wellpinit School District, holding that Hale’s condition did not, in light of the Supreme Court of Washington’s interpretation of §49.60 in McCarthy v. Totem Electric, fall within the definition of the term disability for purposes of §49.60. The legislature subsequently amended §49.60 to expand the definition of the term disability and declared the change retroactive. Following the legislature’s action, Hale filed a motion for reconsideration with the trial court on grounds that his condition qualified as a disability under the new definition. The trial court certified the question of whether §49.60 violates the separation of powers to the Supreme Court of Washington.

Question(s): Did the legislature violate the separation of powers by applying the new definition of the term disability retroactively?

Conclusion: Justice Chambers’ opinion for a unanimous Court ruled that the amendment to §49.60 was a valid attempt by the legislature to clarify ambiguous statutory language that did not violate the separation of powers insofar as it did not reverse the Court’s decision in McCarthy v. Totem Electric nor did it interfere with any judicial function. Thus, the Court remanded the case to the trial court for reconsideration.

Docket No. 80771-0 (from Stevens Case No. 06-2-00194-8)

Petitioner: Hale

Respondent: Wellpinit Sch. Dist. #49

Briefs:

Argument: Tuesday, October 21, 2008 2:30pm

[Source: TVW, http://tvw.org]

Decided: Thursday, January 15th, 2009

Prevailing Party: Wellpinit Sch. Dist. #49 (Respondent)

Vote: 9-0

Citation: Pending

Alexander

Johnson

Madsen

Sanders

Chambers
(Majority)

Owens

Fairhurst

Johnson

Thompson
(Pro Tem)