The complaint asks a federal judge to block DOC from housing certain inmates at the women’s prison in Gig Harbor.
GIG HARBOR, Wash. — A woman incarcerated at the Washington Corrections Center for Women and a nonprofit group are suing the Washington Department of Corrections over a housing policy they claim has put female inmates at risk, according to a federal complaint filed in Seattle.
The lawsuit was filed by Faith Booher-Smith and the Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism, also known as FAIR.
The complaint names the Department of Corrections and DOC Secretary Tim Lang as defendants. DOC told KING 5 News they do not comment on pending litigation.
Booher-Smith, 28, is incarcerated at the Washington Corrections Center for Women in Gig Harbor. FAIR says it has other members at the prison who also have been harmed or remain at risk because of DOC’s transgender housing policy.
The complaint centers on DOC Policy 490.700, which allows transgender, intersex and nonbinary incarcerated people to request gender-affirming housing and other accommodations.
Booher-Smith and FAIR claim the policy has allowed inmates who identify as women to be housed at WCCW, including in shared living areas, bathrooms, showers and other spaces with female inmates.
The lawsuit argues the policy violates the Eighth Amendment’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment and the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause.
The complaint says Booher-Smith was attacked Aug. 7, 2025, by an inmate who had been transferred to WCCW after identifying as a woman.
The lawsuit describes the inmate as a convicted child sex offender who was previously housed at the Monroe Correctional Complex.
According to the complaint, Booher-Smith had seen the inmate watching and following her in the weeks before the attack.
On the day of the assault, the lawsuit says the inmate tried to sit at Booher-Smith’s table in the cafeteria, and she told the inmate she was uncomfortable and got up to leave.
The complaint says Booher-Smith was later standing near a microwave when she was struck in the face from behind.
The lawsuit claims the inmate hit her again, grabbed her hair, knocked her to the ground and kicked her repeatedly while other inmates screamed for help.
The lawsuit says Booher-Smith suffered facial bruising, a cut in her mouth and swelling to her jaw and eye.
She was taken to the prison’s medical unit and later treated for jaw pain, according to the complaint.
In a resolution request filed after the attack, Booher-Smith wrote: “I was attacked from behind by a born male being savagely hit and thrown to the ground being kicked and punched with no chance to defend myself. I am traumatized not only by the incident but by staff’s lack of response….I don’t feel safe. I’m having nightmares and anxiety attacks.”
The complaint says the request was later closed because the concern was being reviewed outside the prison’s resolution office.
Booher-Smith filed another request in September, writing, “I am afraid, anxious, continually on guard…. What about my safety and security?”
The lawsuit also claims DOC had been warned about safety concerns before Booher-Smith’s alleged attack.
The complaint says a Monroe Correctional Complex superintendent had recommended against transferring the inmate to WCCW because of their history and a prior conviction involving serious injuries to a female victim.
The complaint also refers to previous lawsuits and other reported incidents involving inmates at WCCW.
According to the Department of Corrections, the inmate was transferred out of WCCW in October 2025. They’re currently incarcerated at Stafford Creek Corrections Center in Aberdeen.
FAIR says it contacted Washington officials, including Lang, about concerns raised by female inmates but claims no meaningful policy changes were made.
The lawsuit alleges at least five inmates are currently housed at WCCW under the challenged policy.
Booher-Smith claims at least three are in her immediate living environment, including one in her pod and two in her unit.
FAIR also claims other members at WCCW have been injured or threatened. The complaint describes one member as an elderly, wheelchair-bound woman who was allegedly assaulted in 2023 while being taken to a medication appointment.
Another member, described as a sexual assault survivor with PTSD, was allegedly stalked, intimidated and verbally threatened in 2024.
The lawsuit asks the court to declare DOC’s policy unconstitutional when it allows certain inmates to be housed at WCCW with female inmates. It also asks for an order blocking the state from applying the policy in a way that requires female inmates to share cells, sleeping areas, bathrooms, showers or other intimate living spaces with those inmates.
Booher-Smith is also seeking compensatory damages for physical injuries, emotional distress, fear, anxiety, humiliation and trauma she says she suffered because of the state’s policy.
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