Judge OKs Expanded Housing Bias Lawsuit : Racism: The case alleging discrimination in renting apartments now involves thousands of apartment units.
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Thursday allowed plaintiffs in a housing discrimination lawsuit to broaden the case and make the claim that the management company they have accused of racism has engaged in a pattern of discrimination involving thousands of units in Southern California.
The order, issued by Judge Ronald M. Sohigian, expanded a suit initially aimed at one Encino apartment complex. By granting a motion by the plaintiffs, the suit was expanded to include between 8,000 and 10,000 residential units managed by the Beaumont Property Management Co. throughout Southern California, according to Patrick Patterson, Western regional counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which is representing the plaintiffs.
“This is potentially a very significant case,” said Patterson, adding that the plaintiffs will probably request damages in the millions. “It has become clear that when these lawsuits can result in heavy monetary damages, it will change the behavior of apartment managers and owners, and bring them into compliance with the law.”
Amy L. Weinsheink, an attorney for Beaumont, disagreed with the judge’s decision, saying that separate allegations of discrimination against various properties should not be tried together. “The (initial) complaint pertains to one alleged incident at one complex. . . . We argue that they were different actions that should be tried in different suits.”
She declined to comment on whether defense attorneys will seek to have Thursday’s motion overturned.
But of the charge of racial discrimination she said: “We are definitely going to challenge the allegations. We dispute the allegations.”
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, along with the private law firm of Morrison & Foerster, filed suit against Beaumont and its employees in April, 1989, on behalf of the Fair Housing Congress of Southern California and four individual plaintiffs.
One of those individuals had triggered the suit after he responded to an ad for an apartment in a Beaumont-managed apartment complex at 5500 Newcastle Ave. in Encino. He was informed by the building’s on-site manager that no units were available, according to the initial suit. Four days later, the prospective renter found another ad that stated apartments were available but was again told that there were no vacancies, according to the suit.
The Fair Housing Congress, which investigates housing discrimination complaints, sent out black mock applicants followed by white ones. In each case, the black applicants were turned away, while the whites were offered $600-per-month rentals.
The amended suit now includes two more individual plaintiffs, and specifically cites the owners and on-site managers of two additional properties at 1716 N. Edgemont St. in Los Angeles and 5301 Newcastle Ave. in Encino, Patterson said.
Alleging violations of state and federal civil rights laws, the suit is calling for punitive and compensatory damages for the plaintiffs as well as the granting of a broad injunction that would prohibit future discrimination by Beaumont and would direct the company to train its employees on how to comply with civil rights laws, according to Patterson.
Beaumont has faced three other housing discrimination complaints in the past, including one last year in which it was required to pay $20,000 in damages to a racially mixed couple.
