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Barely seven months after a federal court found the Marine Drive
Apartments in civil contempt for failure to comply with the terms of a
2001 consent decree, Housing Opportunities Made Equal and two of its
clients have filed a new federal discrimination case alleging the complex
has harassed minority tenants.
On June 30,
2003 attorney Linda R. Hassberg of the Western New York Law Center filed
suit in U.S. District Court against the Marine Drive Apartments, Inc. and
Manager Barbara Smith and additionally made application for a temporary
restraining order enjoining the defendants from moving ahead with a
threatened eviction of an African-American family. The TRO was granted by
federal District Court Judge John T. Curtin.
M. Y is a
single parent working in law enforcement. She and her family have been
residents of Marine Drive since 1996, when they were admitted following an
affirmative outreach campaign and lottery ordered by state monitors
following a highly critical audit of the complex by the New York State
Inspector General. As a result of state ordered lotteries, minority
occupancy at the waterfront complex finally crept above 10 percent.
According
to the complaint, ever since winning admission to the sought after
affordable housing overlooking the Erie Basin Marina, the Y family has
been the victims repeated acts of harassment. Ms. Y’s children have been
falsely accused of acts of vandalism (while the family was out of town)
and Ms. Y’s car has been repeatedly ticketed despite her prominently
displayed Marine Drive parking sticker. Each time she has had to take
time from work and to contest the ticket; each time, she was exonerated.
Three years
ago Marine Drive instituted eviction proceedings against the Y family for
allegedly having a dog in their apartment. When this allegation was
turned aside, the complex charged Ms. Y with late payment of rent. A city
court judge dismissed the eviction.
Then on
Saturday, April 26, 2003 Ms. Y received a letter from the complex
summoning her to a meeting with Manager Smith and Board President Gerald
Brinkworth the following Monday afternoon to discuss a verbal
confrontation to which Ms. Y’s daughter had been a witness. Ms. Y
immediately replied that due to her work schedule she could not attend
that Monday meeting and asked that it be rescheduled with more notice. In
response, Marine Drive sent second letter saying that due to her failure
to attend on April 28, she was ordered to meet with the tenant review
committee.
When Ms. Y
and her children arrived for the meeting, neither Ms. Smith nor Mr.
Brinkworth was present. Furthermore, the topic of discussion was not the
verbal altercation between her daughter’s friend and a white teenage
resident but rather a laundry list of past accusations (including the
unsuccessful eviction actions) and new allegations. Members of the tenant
review committee refused to divulge either the contents of the alleged
letters of complaint or the identity of complainants. They also referred
to letters from management Ms. Y had never received. Ten days later the Y
family received a letter ordering them to vacate their apartment.
Pattern repeated
Co-plaintiff, Mr. C, is an African-American gentleman who lived in a
one-bedroom unit at Marine Drive from August 2000 to September 2001.
According court papers, Mr. C received a series of letters from Manager
Smith alleging noise complaints from neighbors. Although Mr. C
immediately replied to each letter he received from Marine Drive, Ms.
Smith reportedly gave no credence what he had to say—or to the fact that
on one occasion while Mr. C, his ex-wife and young children were leaving
his apartment a white neighbor allegedly yelled an obscenity from her
apartment doorway before slamming the door.
With only
hours of advance notice, Mr. C was also summoned to appear before the
tenant review committee. Denied the right to be accompanied by legal
counsel (“no outsiders” were welcome, according to Ms. Smith), Mr. C was
denied the right to examine the alleged complaints against him.
Afterwards, Mr. C also received a notice to vacate his home.
Pattern & practice
According
to documents obtained by the Western New York Law Center, the experience
of Ms. Y and Mr. C is by no means unique. In fact, every family approved
for eviction by the tenants review committee for a reason other than
non-payment of rent was African-American or Latino. This data is
especially disturbing given that the complex is nearly 90 percent white.
In a
supporting affidavit, HOME Executive Director Scott W. Gehl asserted,
“Based on more than 20 years experience investigating allegations of
discrimination, I believe that these facts indicate a pattern and practice
of discrimination.”
The case is
now before District Court Judge John T. Elfvin |
