An agreement in principal has been reached involving the lawsuit filed in federal court by lawyers representing Julie Jaman, the Port Townsend woman banned for life from the YMCA-managed city pool after confronting a transgender employee in July 2022.

The court docket for the case, which has been winding its way through Western District Court, reflects a May 5 entry stating the court was notified the case has settled and that all deadlines terminated.

Jaman, reached by phone, confirmed that an agreement had been reached and is expected to go through, but had not been finalized by May 16.

She declined to provide details until “everybody has signed” but confirmed the sum “less than six figures,” meaning under $100,000. She also said the agreement did not restore her rights to swim at the YMCA.

“I realize for most people the money was the big issue, but to me, it wasn’t,” said Jaman. “The deal was to bring all of this forward into the light.” Negotiations to resolve the matter had been underway for “weeks and weeks.”

City Manager John Mauro also confirmed that a settlement was in process.

“Negotiations have not been fully completed so we’re not able to provide any update at this point, but expect to soon,”Mauro said.

On March 19, 2024, Jaman, through her attorneys with the Center for American Liberty, initially sent a letter to the city and the YMCA in March asking for an apology, reinstatement of Jaman’s pool access and $350,000 in damages. Jaman’s attorney’s officially filed their lawsuit in Western District Court on June 12, 2024, seeking reinstatement of her pool privileges and compensation for damages and attorneys’ fees.

The suit had named the city of Port Townsend, City Manager John Mauro, the Olympic Peninsula YMCA and its CEO Wendy Bart, pool manager Rowen DeLuna and Erin Hawkins, the YMCA’s marketing and communications manager.

According to the lawsuit, Jaman was showering in the women’s locker room after swimming. While in the shower, she heard what she identified as a male voice coming from inside the locker room. She opened the shower curtain, and saw what she described as a man in a woman’s swimsuit — an individual who was later identified to her as YMCA employee Clementine Adams —with two young girls as they were preparing to use the toilet. Adams was not wearing employee identification. At the time, Jaman said she thought she was witnessing a crime in progress – hence the confrontation leading to Jaman’s subsequent banishment from the pool

The lawsuit alleged violations of Jaman’s First and 14th Amendment rights. Specifically, the suit alleged that Jaman’s confrontation with Adams was protected under the First Amendment. Secondly, it alleged that Jaman’s lifetime ban was a violation of the 14th Amendment equal protection clause, right to due process, among other allegations.

The lawsuit also alleged the city defamed Jaman in statements released about the incident, and that Port Townsend City Council member Libby Urner-Wennstrom and Mayor David Faber made defamatory statements about Jaman on their personal social media pages. The lawsuit also alleged Mauro and Bart engaged in conspiratorial activities that “falsely labeled Jaman as hateful and bigoted and falsely claimed that she had engaged in a pattern of conduct that violated the YMCA’s policies in the past.”

The suit listed six complaints against the city, the YMCA and employees of both organizations, and requested a jury trial for all claims. The suit sought to declare Jaman’s ban unlawful,  the reinstatement of Jaman’s pool privileges and permanent enjoinment of the YMCA’s Code of Conduct at the pool. It also sought to award Jaman compensatory, nominal and punitive damages, and award her attorney fees, costs and any other relief deemed proper by the court.