Black Wins $40,000 Under Stiff Housing Law
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In a reflection of newly strengthened provisions of the Fair Housing Act, a Florida mobile home community has agreed to pay a black New Jersey woman $40,000 for discrimination. In a reflection of newly strengthened provisions of the Fair Housing Act, a Florida mobile home community has agreed to pay a black New Jersey woman $40,000 for discrimination. ”We broke new ground in the Deep South, using the strength of the new law,” Rachel Susz, a lawyer for the woman, said today. Charles Burr, a lawyer for the mobile home park, said his client had no intent to discriminate and had sold many homes to blacks. The company consented to the award, approved in Federal district court, only because ”it was going to be an extremely embarrassing, high-visibility lawsuit,” he said in a telephone interview. The plaintiff, Irma Princeton of East Orange, said a salesman at the mobile home community, in Clearwater, Fla., told her that it was restricted and that had he known she was black he would have told her not to make the trip. The $40,000 award signaled the significance of amendments to the Fair Housing Act that took effect in March. The 20-year-old law sought to combat discrimination in the sale or rental of housing on the basis of sex, race, color, religion or national origin, but had lacked tools for effective enforcement. The amendments eliminated a ceiling of $1,000 for punitive damages and added the disabled and families with children to those protected from discrimination. Although the court did not specify whether the award was for actual or punitive damages, Ms. Susz, the plaintiff’s lawyer, said the possibility of large punitive damages ”was definitely a factor in getting this case resolved.” The judgment was approved May 2 by the Federal District Court in Tampa but received little notice. Under the amendments to the Fair Housing Act, the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development is obligated to act as advocate and legal counsel for victims of housing discrimination, taking cases to court and seeking penalties, instead of merely mediating disputes and seeking to expedite out-of-court settlements. The lawsuit was filed last January, but the plaintiff sought to amend the complaint after the Fair Housing Act amendments took effect, Ms. Susz said. Mrs. Princeton said in a telephone interview that she was a retired freelance writer who had wanted to move to Florida and had replied to an advertisement by Wayne Wetzel Mobile Homes. Mrs. Princeton, a widow in her 60’s, said she called the company and was invited by Robert J. Wendel, a salesman, to inspect a mobile home community in Clearwater. The company agreed to pay half the costs of her lodging. Discussion of Her Skills In the telephone conversation, she said, she told Mr. Wendel that she wrote a consumer column for Senior Power, a publication of the New Jersey Federation of Senior Citizens, and he said: ”We could use someone with those skills. Would you be willing to do that down here?” He also asked her to edit a brochure he had written, Mrs. Princeton said. Mrs. Princeton made the trip to Clearwater in February 1988 and went to the company’s office. ”When I introduced myself in his office, and we shook hands, the expression on his face was, like, ‘I don’t believe it,’ ” Mrs. Princeton said. More : query.nytimes.com |