High court hears housing bias case

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in a case of a mixed-race couple stymied in efforts to buy a new home by a real estate agent who they said called them a “salt-and-pepper team.” The question for the justices: Can the couple sue the agent’s boss?

Real estate company owners should be held accountable when their employees discriminate, Robert Schwemm, lawyer for Emma and David Holley of Twentynine Palms, Calif., told the justices.

But Realtors argued that the 34-year-old Fair Housing Act outlawing racial discrimination in housing should be used only to punish those who discriminate, not their employers.

Emma Holley is black and her husband is white. They sued agent Grove Crank; his employer, Triad Inc. of Twentynine Palms; and company owner Dave Meyer in 1997 after Crank allegedly used epithets to describe the couple to the builder of a home they wanted to buy. Crank also refused to make their offer on the house.

The Holleys were joined in their suit by the builder, Brooks Bauer, who sold the house for $20,000 less than the couple was ready to pay.

No one claims that Meyer took part in or knew of any discrimination. But he should be held liable because he failed to ensure that his agent complied with the law, Schwemm said.