Suit Accuses Irvine Co. of Racial Bias

An interracial couple sued the Irvine Co. in U. S. District Court in Los Angeles, saying they were denied an apartment in Newport Beach because the man is black.

The company, one of Orange County’s largest apartment owners, immediately disputed the allegation. Walter James and Jill DeGarmo say the company’s apartment manager, Western National Properties Inc., told them over the telephone early last year that there were vacancies at the Mariner Square Apartments. But when the couple showed up the next day, they say, an apartment manager told them there were no vacancies. Less than an hour later, DeGarmo, who is white, called the complex from a pay phone using a disguised voice and was told there were vacancies, according to the suit filed on behalf of the couple by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.