A Port Townsend woman who was permanently banned from the city’s Mountain View Swimming Pool after a July 2022 incident with a transgender employee is seeking $350,000 in damages, her ban lifted, and a formal apology from the city.

A demand letter, dated March 19, was sent by attorneys for Julie Jaman, 82.

“To remedy the unlawful conduct against my client, I demand the following: (1) the City and the YMCA lift the ban against Jaman; (2) the City and the YMCA issue a formal apology to Jaman for their actions against her; and (3) the City and the YMCA pay Jaman the sum of $350,000 for her emotional distress arising out of the incident,” wrote attorney Harmeet Dhillon, with the Center for American Liberty.

The letter was addressed to City Manager John Mauro, Kendra Rosenberg, an attorney with Kenyon Disend PLLC, and Wendy Bart, chief executive officer of the Olympic Peninsula YMCA.

Jaman was permanently banned from the pool in July 2022 after confronting Clementine Adams, a transgender pool employee, in the women’s locker room. The YMCA operates the city pool.

“While in the shower, Jaman heard a male voice inside the locker room,” according to the demand letter. “When she (Jaman) pulled back the shower curtain to see who was there, she saw a biological male wearing a female swimsuit.

The individual — later identified to Jaman as “Clementine Adams” — was watching two young girls who appeared to be about four to six years old as they were preparing to use the toilet. Adams was not wearing any form of identification indicating an affiliation with the YMCA. 

After a confrontation with Adams and pool manager Rowan DeLuna, Jaman was asked to leave. The incident garnered national attention, led to a temporary pool closure, protests at the facility and tensions at a city council meeting.

Jaman’s attorney alleges that city and the YMCA violated Washington state law by publishing ‘false and defamatory statements,’ Jaman’s First Amendment right to free speech and her 14th Amendment right to due process.

In a statement published in question and answer format on Aug. 11, 2022, pool leadership asserted that Adams had not acted inappropriately and was following the YMCA ‘s ‘Rule of 3’ protocol in accompanying the children to the restroom. Further, Adams was not wearing YMCA identification because Adams was using the pool and wearing a bathing suit as part of the activities for the day.

In the same statement, pool leadership alleged that while Jaman’s verbiage and behavior on July 26 violated the YMCA’s code of conduct and was enough to warrant revocation of access privileges, there was also a “documented pattern of disrespectful behavior by the same patron.”

Jaman publicly countered that she had never been informed of past code of conduct violations.

The letter demands that the city and YMCA respond by 5 p.m. March 27. “If the City and YMCA fail to comply with this demand by that deadline, all options will be on the table, including the institution of legal proceedings in court.”

City officials did not respond to requests for comment by press time.