A settlement was recently reached in a discrimination lawsuit brought against the owner of Millicent Town Homes for an alleged refusal to rent to a widowed grandmother because of her disability. Paul Miller has settled past complaints of housing discrimination including a previous allegation of discrimination on the basis of disability at the Millicent Town Homes. Mr. Miller, who has received fair housing training as a result of those settlements, will be required attend further training and pay $5,000 to resolve this most recent case.
HOME’s client, Yvonne Thomas, had recently received a voucher through the Section 8 Rental Assistance Program. After years on the waiting list, she was looking forward to being able to move herself and her grandson out of public housing and into a “nice apartment in a quiet nice neighborhood.”
Although Ms. Thomas had suffered a stroke in 1988 that left her with some difficulty with mobility, she did not feel that she needed an accessible apartment. She saw an ad for what she thought would be an ideal place for her family and went to view the two-story townhouse at Millicent Town Homes accompanied by a housing counselor from HOME’s Greater Buffalo Community Housing Center (CHC).
After she completed an application, owner Paul Miller showed her one of the units. He observed that she was having difficulty with the stairs and according to Ms. Thomas, remarked to her housing counselor that he could not rent to Ms. Thomas because of her disability. He expressed a concern that because she might injure herself, his lawyer would never approve.
Ms. Thomas said she was shocked that he would say such a thing. “He didn’t even say it to me,” she said. “He said it in front of me to someone else.” HOME received a second, similar allegation against Mr. Miller a month later and filed complaints of disability discrimination in the name of both clients and the agency.
After failing to reach a settlement during negotiations, Miller elected to have the complaint heard in New York State Supreme Court. The case was ultimately settled before trial. The settlement order directed the defendant to pay $5,000 and take affirmative action including attending a fair housing training acceptable to the State Division of Human Rights.
After being refused housing at the place of her choice, Ms. Thomas was forced to spend the next two months searching for another apartment. She finally settled for one that was not as nice. Ms. Thomas expressed gratitude that her housing counselor had been there to help her respond to the discrimination she experienced. After hearing of the settlement, she remarked “I don’t think he’ll say that to anyone else any time soon.”
