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It started as a rear-end car accident several years ago in King County.

And Thursday, it ended with the determining that all civil cases in the state must undergo a hearing for a new trial if the losing party claims their court case involved any racial bias.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a very unusual decision,鈥� Seattle attorney Mark Lamb told Dori Monson Show listeners Friday.

According to the justices鈥� ruling, a civil trial court must hold an evidentiary hearing to determine if a new trial is required if the plaintiff or defendant suggests the outcome of the case was connected to any perceived racial bias.

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In what legal experts like Lamb call 鈥渃hilling,鈥� a hearing requested after a trial must now start with a baseline presumption that the verdict was the result of bias. Even more, the nine justices wrote that the burden of proof is now on the party that won the original trial — and that it is their burden of proof to show there was no bias.

The ruling stems from an auto collision in which Janelle Henderson, who is Black, claimed the tics and pain connected to her existing Tourette鈥檚 Syndrome were worsened after her car was hit by one driven by Alicia Thompson, who is white.

Henderson and her Seattle attorney, Vonda Sargent, sought $3.5 million in damages when the case first went to trial in 2017. Thompson had acknowledged her own fault in the accident but would not compensate Henderson for a multi-million dollar amount.

At the civil trial, after hearing Henderson described as 鈥渃ombative鈥� and 鈥渃onfrontational,鈥� and watching three of Henderson鈥檚 friends and witnesses all use the same words to describe her as the 鈥渓ife of the party,鈥� the jury denied Henderson鈥檚 original claim and awarded her $9,200.

Arguing that these words used by the defense were a trope and the insinuation that the witnesses colluded in their testimony, the plaintiffs claimed racial bias. The state鈥檚 high court also sided with Henderson鈥檚 claim that the jury heard racial bias when the defense questioned her choice to use her employer as the physician testifying about her condition, and when the defense suggested she was 鈥渆xaggerating to acquire an unearned financial windfall.鈥�

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If future cases reach a point where there is a claim of racial bias, the state court wrote in its 33-page opinion, an 鈥渙bjective observer鈥� must be used at a hearing to determine if racial bias played into the verdict. The observer, the justices continued, is 鈥渟omeone who is aware that implicit, institutional, and unconscious biases, in addition to purposeful discrimination, have influenced jury verdicts in Washington state.鈥�

鈥淭he presumption is going to be that you are biased, you are racist,鈥� Lamb explained to Dori鈥檚 listeners. 鈥淭he burden is on the party that effectively won at trial.”

鈥淚t is trying to imbue race consciousness into our system in a way that is not remedial but is insidious and will have very disastrous consequences to bring our country together. It鈥檚 going to heighten racial consciousness and identity and that is not going to be good for our state.鈥�

Listen to Dori Monson weekday afternoons from noon 鈥� 3 p.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the聽podcast here.