RCW 49.60.040: Disability, Employer, and Protected Classes

RCW 49.60.040 is the definitions section of the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD). It sets the statutory meaning of the terms the rest of Chapter 49.60 RCW turns on: who counts as an “employer,” what qualifies as a “disability,” who is a “person” who can be sued, what a “place of public accommodation” is, and how categories like sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, marital status, and families with children status are drawn.¹ These definitions decide the outer edges of the law. A claim that doesn’t fit the statutory language rarely survives, and several of these definitions are noticeably broader than their federal equivalents.

Disability

Washington’s definition of disability is one of the widest in the country. Under RCW 49.60.040(7), a disability is the presence of a sensory, mental, or physical impairment that satisfies any one of three alternative tests:¹

It is medically cognizable or diagnosable.
There is a record or history of the condition, even if it is now in remission or resolved.
It is perceived to exist, whether or not it actually does.

Only one of the three has to apply. The statute also says a disability counts whether it is temporary or permanent, common or uncommon, and whether or not it substantially limits any activity.²

That last clause is where Washington law parts company with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA requires that a disability “substantially limit one or more major life activities.”³ The WLAD drops that requirement. A diagnosable, documented, or perceived condition qualifies even if it has no measurable effect on daily life. Washington’s pattern jury instructions recognize this gap directly.⁴ A mild knee injury, well-managed diabetes, or a corrected vision problem can fall short of the federal standard and still support a state-law claim.

Qualifying impairments cover any physiological disorder, condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting body systems such as the neurological, musculoskeletal, respiratory, cardiovascular, reproductive, digestive, or endocrine systems. Mental and psychological conditions are included too, among them developmental disorders, organic brain syndrome, emotional illness, and specific learning disabilities.¹

The one clear exclusion is current illegal use of a controlled substance.¹ A past substance use disorder that is no longer active could still qualify under the record-or-history prong.

Employer

The WLAD applies to any person acting in the interest of an employer who employs eight or more people.¹ Businesses with seven or fewer employees generally fall outside the chapter. For comparison, federal Title VII and the ADA kick in at 15 employees, so Washington reaches many smaller workplaces that federal law does not.

One category is carved out entirely. Nonprofit religious or sectarian organizations are excluded from the definition of “employer” and are not subject to the WLAD’s employment provisions.¹ The exemption applies only to religious organizations that are not organized for private profit. A for-profit business with a religious affiliation does not qualify.

Person

“Person” runs through the WLAD, and the statute defines it broadly. It takes in individuals, partnerships, associations, organizations, corporations, cooperatives, legal representatives, trustees, and receivers. It also includes any owner, manager, agent, or employee, and extends to political subdivisions and state agencies.² In practice, that reach means a discrimination claim can name not just the company but also the individual supervisor or manager who carried out the act.

Sexual Orientation

Sexual orientation is defined as heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality.¹ Gender expression or identity is a separate protected category under the statute, not a subset.

Gender Expression or Identity

The statute defines gender expression or identity as having, or being perceived as having, a gender identity, self-image, appearance, behavior, or expression that differs from what is traditionally associated with the sex assigned at birth.¹ The “perceived as having” language does real work. A person does not need to identify as transgender to be protected. If someone is treated adversely because of how others perceive their gender, the statute reaches that conduct.

Marital, Veteran, Race, and National Origin

Marital status covers the legal status of being married, single, separated, divorced, or widowed.¹ Firing someone for getting married, or refusing to rent to a single person, falls inside the definition.

Honorably discharged veteran or military status covers two groups: veterans as separately defined in RCW 41.04.007, and active or reserve members of any branch of the U.S. armed forces, including the National Guard, Coast Guard, and reserves.¹ Whether the person is currently serving or left the service decades ago does not change the analysis.

Race is defined to include traits historically associated with race, such as hair texture and protective hairstyles like afros, braids, locks, and twists. A workplace grooming policy that bans natural hairstyles can be challenged as race discrimination on that basis. National origin explicitly includes ancestry.¹

Place of Public Accommodation

The public accommodation definition is deliberately wide. It covers any place, licensed or unlicensed, kept for gain, hire, or rental, or where charges are made for admission, service, occupancy, or use of any property or facilities. Restaurants, hotels, stores, theaters, concert halls, transportation stations, and recreational venues are examples.¹ The statute uses “includes, but is not limited to,” so the examples are a floor. Any place offering goods, services, or entertainment to the public generally qualifies.

Dog Guides and Service Animals

The statute separately defines two categories of assistance animal because using one is itself a protected right. A dog guide is a dog trained to assist blind or hearing-impaired people. A service animal is any dog or miniature horse individually trained to perform tasks for someone with a disability, such as navigating for a blind person, alerting a deaf person to sounds, pulling a wheelchair, or interrupting destructive behaviors linked to a psychiatric disability.¹ Emotional support animals that provide comfort but are not trained to perform specific tasks do not meet the statutory definition of a service animal.

Real Estate Transactions and Families With Children

Real estate transactions include the sale, purchase, exchange, rental, or lease of real property, along with brokerage, representation, and financing or refinancing of real property.¹ That scope pulls in landlords and sellers, and also real estate agents, mortgage lenders, and title insurance companies.

Families with children status is defined as one or more people under 18 living with a parent or legal custodian. The definition also extends to anyone who is pregnant or in the process of gaining legal custody of a child.² A landlord who refuses to rent to a family with young children, or who steers families toward particular units, is covered.

Credit Transactions

A credit transaction is any open- or closed-end credit arrangement where a service, finance, or interest charge is imposed, or where repayment is scheduled, when that credit is extended in the regular course of business. The definition covers loans from banks, savings institutions, and other lenders, along with retail installment purchases and credit card accounts.¹ A lender who offers worse terms or denies an application based on a protected characteristic is engaged in an unfair practice under the chapter.

1
Washington State Legislature. RCW 49.60.040 – Definitions
2
Washington State Legislature. Chapter 49.60 RCW – Discrimination – Human Rights Commission
3
ADA.gov. Introduction to the Americans with Disabilities Act
4
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Washington Pattern Jury Instructions – Civil WPI 330.31 Employment Discrimination – Disability Discrimination – Definition of Disability