California IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Refusal to Rent to Family Draws Fine

A Riverside physician has been ordered by the state Fair Employment and Housing Commission to pay $7,160 in damages for refusing to rent a home to a family with children. The commission said Suzanne Mendoza answered an ad by Dr. Bart Sullivan to rent a three-bedroom house in September, 1988. Sullivan asked her if she had children and, told she had four, replied, “I’ll pass on that,” the commission said. The house was rented the next month to a childless couple. In a unanimous ruling, the commission said Sullivan had violated a state law prohibiting rental discrimination against families with children.