Neighbors Say Baird’s Husband Attended Meeting on Bias Suit

Atty. Gen.-designate Zoe Baird’s husband last summer attended a neighborhood association meeting where the members discussed a threat by the Justice Department to sue the organization for housing discrimination, the group’s president said Wednesday.

The disclosure could raise questions about Baird’s testimony Tuesday, in which she told the Senate Judiciary Committee that all she knew about the suit was what she had read in newspapers.

The Justice Department ultimately sued the New Haven neighborhood organization, charging that it violated fair housing laws by trying to block a woman with 10 foster and adopted children from moving into the affluent neighborhood.

Baird’s husband, Yale law professor Paul Gewirtz, is likely to be questioned about the matter if he testifies today at the second day of Baird’s confirmation hearing. The issue could stir up further trouble for Baird, who already has apologized for breaking the law by hiring two illegal immigrants as household servants.

It could not be determined what position, if any, Gewirtz took on the threatened suit during the meeting. Attempts to reach him, his wife and transition officials late Wednesday were unsuccessful.

The controversy began last year when Marjorie Eichler tried to purchase a 25-room mansion in the neighborhood. The Ronan-Edgehill Neighborhood Assn. and some individual residents filed suit in state court to block the move. They claimed Eichler would be operating a group home in violation of zoning regulations for the neighborhood.

Eichler complained to federal housing officials that neighbors were trying to keep her from buying the house because her children are Latino and black. The matter was referred to the Justice Department’s civil rights division, which opened an investigation last May.

Robie Pooley, president of the neighborhood group, said the Justice Department tried to persuade the association to avoid a discrimination suit by paying a settlement and agreeing not to engage in such activities in the future--terms that would allow the sale to proceed.

Last June or July, Pooley said, the association held a board meeting at her house to discuss the settlement offer and the merits of the threatened suit. She said Gewirtz was among 10 to 20 people who attended the meeting, although he was not on the board or a member of the association.

“Paul was at the meeting and I remember him participating to a certain extent,” said Pooley. “I don’t remember what he said, and he had to leave early.”

Another participant, who declined to be identified, also said Gewirtz was there. After Gewirtz left, another Yale law professor, Anthony Kronman, reportedly made comments that he said represented his position and that of Gewirtz. Kronman declined to discuss the meeting when contacted Wednesday.

“I would rather not comment on that at this point, particularly given the possibility that Mr. Gewirtz will be testifying at the hearing tomorrow,” he said.

The Justice Department filed a discrimination suit against the neighborhood group and some individual residents last summer. It is pending in federal court in Bridgeport, Conn.

When Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) asked Baird about the suit Tuesday, she said, “I knew nothing about the activity that led to the lawsuit or the lawsuit except what I read recently in the paper, and I can’t tell you anything, really, beyond that.”

Specter and Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun (D-Ill.) asked that Gewirtz be called to testify today about the hiring of the illegal immigrants and other matters, but it could not be determined Wednesday whether he was going to appear.