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RCW 49.60.178

Unfair practices with respect to insurance transactions.

Known as the Washington State Civil Rights Act

The act spans §§ 49–49 (66 sections).

Applied in 9 court decisions — leading case Marquis v. City of Spokane (1996)

Most recently applied in Weyer v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. (January 2000)

2021 c 280 s 1; 2020 c 52 s 9; 2006 c 4 s 9; 1997 c 271 s 9; 1993 c 510 s 11; 1984 c 32 s 1; 1979 c 127 s 6; 1974 ex.s. c 32 s 2; 1973 c 141 s 6.

How often courts cite this section

19811990200040
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(1) It is an unfair practice for any person whether acting for himself, herself, or another in connection with an insurance transaction or transaction with a health maintenance organization to cancel or fail or refuse to issue or renew insurance or a health maintenance agreement to any person because of sex, marital status, sexual orientation, race, creed, color, national origin, citizenship or immigration status, or the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with disabilities: PROVIDED, That a practice which is not unlawful under RCW 48.30.300, 48.44.220, 48.46.370, or 48.43.0128 does not constitute an unfair practice for the purposes of this section. For the purposes of this section, "insurance transaction" is defined in RCW 48.01.060, health maintenance agreement is defined in RCW 48.46.020, and "health maintenance organization" is defined in RCW 48.46.020.

(2) The fact that such unfair practice may also be a violation of chapter 48.30, 48.43, 48.44, or 48.46 RCW does not constitute a defense to an action brought under this section.

(3) The insurance commissioner, under RCW 48.30.300 and 48.43.0128, and the human rights commission, under chapter 49.60 RCW, shall have concurrent jurisdiction under this section and shall enter into a working agreement as to procedure to be followed in complaints under this section.

Official source: Washington State Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Washington statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.