Recent U.S. Department Of Justice Housing Discrimination Actions

The following links are to announcements by the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice of recent civil & criminal housing discrimination actions over the last 3+ months:

• November 26, 2008: West Virginia Man Indicted on Federal Civil Rights Charges for Allegedly Burning a Home - Daryl Lee Fierce, 69, of Charleston, W.Va., was indicted by a federal grand jury for using fire to intimidate and interfere with a person’s housing rights because African-American and biracial individuals visited the person in her home.

• November 13, 2008: Justice Department Resolves Lawsuit Alleging Race Discrimination at Roseville, Michigan Apartment Complex - Owners and managers of a Michigan apartment complex agreed to pay up to $170,000 (including $75K to 3 victims, and $40K into a fund for additional victims that may come forward) resolving a lawsuit brought by DOJ; they allegedly engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination against African-American applicants for tenancy.

• November 7, 2008: Justice Department Sues Evansville, Indiana Retirement Home for Discriminating Against Persons with Disabilities - DOJ sues the owners and managers of a retirement home for not allowing residents with disabilities to use motorized wheelchairs or scooters in the dining hall or in their apartments and for forcing out two tenants who used motorized wheelchairs.

• November 5, 2008: Justice Department Files Fair Housing Lawsuit in South Dakota - DOJ sues the owners and managers of three Sioux Falls, S.D., apartment buildings, alleging that they violated the Fair Housing Act when they refused to rent apartments to families with children, and when they told tenants and prospective tenants that they did not rent to African-Americans.

• October 9, 2008: Justice Department Settles Fair Housing Lawsuit Alleging Discrimination by Lancaster, Penn. Apartment Owner, Managing Agent Against Persons with Disabilities - Former owner and managing agent of an apartment complex have agreed to pay up to $60,500 to resolve a DOJ lawsuit alleging discrimination against persons with disabilities. According to the complaint, the defendants refused to rent an apartment to a man who is visually impaired and uses a guide dog.

• September 30, 2008: Justice Department Settles Lawsuit with Louisiana Landlord Alleging Discrimination Against Families with Children - Owner and manager of apartment complex agreed to pay up to $145,000 to resolve claims that they discriminated against families with children in violation of the Fair Housing Act. According to the Department’s complaint, they had and exercised a policy of refusing to rent second floor units to families with children and discouraging families with children from renting at the complex.

• September 29, 2008: Justice Department Files Lawsuit Alleging Disability-based Housing Discrimination at Seven Nashville-Area Complexes - DOJ sues Murphy Development, LLC, for failing to provide required accessible features for persons with disabilities at developments with more than 375 covered ground floor units.

• September 26, 2008: Winder, Georgia Public Housing Authority Settles Race Discrimination Housing Complaint with Justice Department - The Housing Authority for the City of Winder, Ga., agrees to pay up to $490,000 to resolve allegations that it engaged in a pattern or practice of discriminating against African-American tenants and housing applicants.

• September 18, 2008: Justice Department Sues Owners and On-Site Manager of Kansas City Apartment Complex for Race Discrimination and Retaliation - DOJ sues the owners and operators of an apartment complex, and against the former on-site manager of the complex, for violating the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against African-Americans on the basis of race, and by retaliating against a former employee of the complex for aiding and encouraging tenants to exercise the rights granted by the Fair Housing Act.

• September 8, 2008: Justice Department Sues Bloomingdale, Georgia Landlord for Sexual Harassment and Race Discrimination - DOJ sues Darwin Kenneth Morgan and his company DK Morgan Consolidated LLC, for violating the Fair Housing Act in the rental of mobile homes and mobile home lots. The complaint alleged that Morgan refused to rent to inter-racial couples, made statements indicating a racial preference, and misrepresented the availability of units because of the race or color of the prospective tenants. The complaint also alleged that Morgan subjected female tenants and prospective tenants to unwanted verbal and physical sexual advances, granted and denied tangible housing benefits based on sex, and took adverse action against female tenants when they refused or objected to his sexual advances.

• September 4, 2008: $1 Million Judgment in Sexual Harassment Case Against Cincinnati Landlord - James G. Mitchell and Land Baron Enterprises, a corporation that owned many of the properties that Mitchell managed -- agreed to pay $890,000 in compensation to 12 women who Mitchell sexually harassed and $110,000 in a civil penalty to the United States. The complaint alleged that the defendants subjected female tenants to unwanted verbal sexual advances and unwanted sexual touching; entered the apartments of female tenants without permission or notice; granted and denied tangible housing benefits in exchange for sexual favors; and took adverse action against female tenants when they refused or objected to his sexual advances.