Locked in with a male sex offender. A jury just awarded her $150,000.

Washington housed a woman in a cell with a 6'4" male sex offender. Her lawsuit says she spoke up, and staff laughed. Now a jury has sided with her.

On Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, a unanimous federal jury in Tacoma awarded former inmate Mozzy Clark $150,000 for violations of her constitutional rights, her attorney David Pivtorak announced. (KIRO 7 · Lynnwood Times)

"A unanimous federal jury in deep-blue Tacoma just awarded my client $150,000 for violation of her constitutional rights in this case," Pivtorak wrote on X. "We are also scheduled to go to trial in February against the Department of Corrections in state court on her negligence claims." (@TheDavidPiv, Nov. 9)

What happened

According to her lawsuit, filed in December 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington (Pivtorak Law Firm):

• In early 2022, the Washington Department of Corrections gave Clark a new cellmate at the Washington Corrections Center for Women in Gig Harbor: Christopher Williams, described in the complaint as a "6-foot, 4-inch biological male" with a violent history, moved from a men's prison.
• Her attorney says Williams had prior convictions for child molestation and domestic abuse.
• The suit says he stalked her, threatened her, made repeated sexual comments, and sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions, including while she slept.
• Officers allegedly laughed off her complaints and discouraged her from filing a formal one. The only way out they offered: suicide watch.
• She was moved to her own cell only weeks after she filed a federal Prison Rape Elimination Act complaint. She has since been released.

It is not yet clear which defendants the jury found liable or how the award breaks down. KIRO says it has asked DOC and the Attorney General's Office for comment. (KIRO 7)

What happens next

• February 2027: Clark's negligence case against DOC goes to trial in state court.
• DOC's policy still lets inmates who identify as transgender request housing by gender identity, decided case by case. (Lynnwood Times)

My take

Men don't belong in women's prisons. Not "case by case." Not ever.

Mozzy reported what was happening. Her lawsuit says staff laughed and offered her suicide watch. A unanimous federal jury has now found that her constitutional rights were violated.

$150,000 doesn't undo what happened to her. Changing the policy would protect the next woman. Share this so every Washington lawmaker sees it.

Sources

• KIRO 7 — Former women's prison inmate wins federal case against WA prisons, says attorney, Nov. 10, 2026
• Lynnwood Times — Federal jury awards $150,000 to former Washington inmate, Nov. 10, 2026
• David Pivtorak on X (verdict announcement), Nov. 9, 2026
• The Pivtorak Law Firm — lawsuit announcement and complaint, Dec. 30, 2024

Cover photo: Union Station, Tacoma (home of the federal courthouse) — Steve Morgan / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Credit in the post, not on the image.