Armstrong

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

OLYMPUS SPA; MYOON WOON No. 23-4031 LEE; SUN LEE; JANE DOE, patron; D.C. No. JANE DOES, employees 1-3, 2:22-cv-00340-

BJR

Plaintiffs - Appellants,

v. OPINION

ANDRETA ARMSTRONG,

Executive Director of the Washington State Human Rights Commission;

MADISON IMIOLA,

Defendants - Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington Barbara Jacobs Rothstein, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted November 18, 2024 Seattle, Washington

Filed May 29, 2025

Before: M. Margaret McKeown, Ronald M. Gould, and Kenneth K. Lee, Circuit Judges. Opinion by Judge McKeown; Dissent by Judge Lee

SUMMARY *

First Amendment

The panel affirmed the district court’s dismissal of a complaint brought by two Korean spas (collectively “the Spa”) alleging First Amendment violations when Washington’s Human Rights Commission (“HRC”) initiated an enforcement action pursuant to the Washington Law Against Discrimination (“WLAD”) against the Spa for its policy of granting entry to only biological women and…