The Department of Justice has filed suit against the owner and manager of a Euless apartment complex accused of violating the Fair Housing Act by denying housing opportunities to people of Middle Eastern or South Asian descent because she found their odor offensive.
The Stonebridge at Bear Creek, located at 2250 Fuller-Wiser Road near the Bear Creek Golf Club, consists of 184 units across 21 buildings, is managed by Nancy Quandt. The lawsuit has also been filed against Stonebridge at Bear Creek, the Minnesota-based owner of the apartment complex, and S&H Realty Management, which manages Stonebridge.
According to the lawsuit filed at the end of last week in Dallas federal court, Quandt told her leasing agents they were prohibited from leasing to Middle Eastern or South Asian people unless there were openings in buildings No. 16 or 18, which were designated for “curry people” — which is what the government says Quandt called them.
“Quandt justified her discriminatory instructions and behavior by saying that persons of the Middle East and South Asia ‘stink,’ were ‘dirty,’ ‘completely destroyed’ apartments, left the walls smelling of curry after they moved out, and made neighboring tenants want to live elsewhere,” the suit says.
S&H Realty Management insists there’s no discrimination at the complex and says the lawsuit was unjustly filed.
“We stand behind our employees, we’ve done nothing wrong, and we welcome the opportunity to prove that,” Nancy Hart, vice president of S & H Realty, said Monday.
From 2009 to 2010, says the suit, the average concentration of Middle Eastern or South Asian people was 83 percent in Building No. 18 and 38 percent in Building No. 16 — and just 3.6 percent in the other 19 buildings combined.
The Fair Housing Act of 1968 makes it unlawful to refuse sale or rent of a dwelling because of a person’s race, religion, age, sex or national origin.
According to the suit, Quandt told her employees to determine would-be renters’ ethnicities by screening the accents of people calling for possible living opportunities. The Justice Department also says she would punish Middle Eastern and South Asian tenants by enforcing the complex’s cleanliness rules more strictly against them.
This activity had been going on since at least 2004, says the suit, but many of Stonebridge’s employees were fearful they would lose their jobs if they filed a complaint against Quandt.
The manager had told them that two previous leasing agents had been fired almost immediately by Hart for reporting information about discrimination at the complex, according to the lawsuit. Hart denies the allegations.
In 2009 alone, says the suit, the complex fluctuated between a vacancy rate of 11 and 18 percent. But Quandt allegedly continued to turn away potential leasers because of their race.
The Stonebridge at Bear Creek, located at 2250 Fuller-Wiser Road near the Bear Creek Golf Club, consists of 184 units across 21 buildings, is managed by Nancy Quandt. The lawsuit has also been filed against Stonebridge at Bear Creek, the Minnesota-based owner of the apartment complex, and S&H Realty Management, which manages Stonebridge.
According to the lawsuit filed at the end of last week in Dallas federal court, Quandt told her leasing agents they were prohibited from leasing to Middle Eastern or South Asian people unless there were openings in buildings No. 16 or 18, which were designated for “curry people” — which is what the government says Quandt called them.
“Quandt justified her discriminatory instructions and behavior by saying that persons of the Middle East and South Asia ‘stink,’ were ‘dirty,’ ‘completely destroyed’ apartments, left the walls smelling of curry after they moved out, and made neighboring tenants want to live elsewhere,” the suit says.
S&H Realty Management insists there’s no discrimination at the complex and says the lawsuit was unjustly filed.
“We stand behind our employees, we’ve done nothing wrong, and we welcome the opportunity to prove that,” Nancy Hart, vice president of S & H Realty, said Monday.
From 2009 to 2010, says the suit, the average concentration of Middle Eastern or South Asian people was 83 percent in Building No. 18 and 38 percent in Building No. 16 — and just 3.6 percent in the other 19 buildings combined.
The Fair Housing Act of 1968 makes it unlawful to refuse sale or rent of a dwelling because of a person’s race, religion, age, sex or national origin.
According to the suit, Quandt told her employees to determine would-be renters’ ethnicities by screening the accents of people calling for possible living opportunities. The Justice Department also says she would punish Middle Eastern and South Asian tenants by enforcing the complex’s cleanliness rules more strictly against them.
This activity had been going on since at least 2004, says the suit, but many of Stonebridge’s employees were fearful they would lose their jobs if they filed a complaint against Quandt.
The manager had told them that two previous leasing agents had been fired almost immediately by Hart for reporting information about discrimination at the complex, according to the lawsuit. Hart denies the allegations.
In 2009 alone, says the suit, the complex fluctuated between a vacancy rate of 11 and 18 percent. But Quandt allegedly continued to turn away potential leasers because of their race.
http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2013/04/feds-file-suit-against-euless-apartment-complex-alleging-manager-discriminated-against-curry-people.html/
