Women-only nude spa lawyer calls trans activist ‘malignant’

A trans activist who accused a women-only nude spa of discrimination had “malignant intent” when she made her gripe — because it came months before she underwent sex reassignment surgery, a lawyer for the business claimed.

Tracy Tribbett, who is representing Olympus Spa in Washington State, ripped Haven Wilvich for filing a complaint with the state’s human rights commission after she was denied entry to the business.

“A person who is … months away from gender reassignment surgery who complains and tries to ruin and destroy this business, that’s harmful, if not, malignant intent,” Tribbett told The Lynnwood Times.

Wilvich, a transgender woman, claimed she had visited the spa with friends in January 2020 but denied entry because she still had male genitalia.

A month later, she filed her complaint against the spa in Lynwood, Wash., about 30 minutes north of Seattle.

The spa has always had a policy of accepting trans women who have had sexual reassignment surgery, Tribbet said.

“Olympus Spa is not open to the public, nor has it ever been. The spa discriminates against men and it discriminates against those under the age of 13,” she told The Daily Mail. “This is different from other cases, like a cake-baking shop or a flower shop.

“What we seem to have here is an activist trolling online to find different businesses that might not be complying with what they perceive to be the law,” Tribbett added.

In 2021, the state declared the spa’s policy discriminatory, and the business ended the practice.

In 2022, the spa sued to reverse the decision, but a federal judge upheld the ruling earlier this month. 

A blog post shows that Wilvich received her surgery for a “neovagina” in August 2020, six months after she filed the WSHRC complaint, according to court documents. 

Though Wilvich originally claimed in her complaint to the commission that she visited the spa but later changed her story, telling The Post earlier this month she called and was told “pre-op trans women were not allowed.”

Wilvich lying in her complaint about her initial encounter with the spa demonstrates she was merely looking to go after a business whose principles did not align with her own, Tribbett maintained.

Tribbett also suggested Wilvich was lying about contacting the spa via phone, claiming business’ owner, Myoon Woon Lee, does not take phone calls.

“This is not a direct attack on Haven Wilvich, other than to say that she’s not being truthful and was just looking for trouble,” Tribbett said. 

Wilvich told The Post following the June decision that she was “trying to spend business to the spa. I was trying to support them … to become more in line with inclusive culture.”

“I see this as a just law being upheld,” she said. 

Tribbett said that Olympus Spa plans to refile its complaint, with the aim of eventually taking its case all the way to the Supreme Court.

‘It will go to a panel in the Ninth Circuit, and then it will be reviewed there. If we obtain the same outcome, then we will appeal to the Supreme Court for review,’ she told the Daily Mail.

Wilvich did not respond to a request for comment. Tribbett did not immediately respond to requests for comment.