ACLU Files Lawsuit on Behalf of Domestic Abuse Victim Who Was Evicted
CONTACT: media@aclu.org
Mother of Two in Detroit Evicted After Ex-Boyfriend Violates a Personal Protection Order, Breaks into Her Home
DETROIT -- The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a federal sex
discrimination lawsuit against a Detroit landlord after the company evicted a
domestic violence victim from her home. The management company has refused
to revise a policy that evicts all tenants whose “guests” create a disturbance
or damage the property, including tenants who are victims of domestic
violence.
“We have seen time and time again that evictions of domestic abuse
victims are based on gender stereotypes that teach us that women who experience
domestic violence must be allowing it to happen, “said Emily Martin, Deputy
Director of the ACLU Women's Rights Project. “It is time for the courts to step
in and send a message to landlords that we will not stand by as they throw women
out on the street because they are victims of domestic violence.”
Last year,
Tanica Lewis ended a relationship with Reuben Thomas and obtained a personal
protection order after he harassed and stalked her. She informed the
management company of the order that prohibited Thomas from entering the
property. On March 1, 2006, however, Thomas broke the windows to her home and
kicked in her door. When Lewis learned of the vandalism, she immediately
reported the incident to the police, as well as to the residential manager of
the property. Thomas was ultimately convicted of home invasion and ordered to
pay restitution for the damaged property.
Nonetheless, based on this
incident, Management Systems Incorporated issued Lewis a 30-day notice of
eviction on March 13, 2006, stating that she had violated a portion of her lease
that said she would be liable for any damage resulting from lack of proper
supervision of her guests. Lewis subsequently moved from the property in
compliance with the notice to an apartment that cost $200 more per month and
that was further from her job and the help of a family member who had been
caring for her daughter during work hours, forcing her to make new childcare
arrangements.
According to the lawsuit, filed today in U.S. District Court
for the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit, the policy of evicting domestic
violence victims constitutes sex discrimination in violation of the federal Fair
Housing Act and Michigan’s Civil Rights Act. According to legal papers,
the policy relies on outdated gender stereotypes and disproportionately impacts
women who are eight times more likely then men to be victims of domestic
violence.
In January 2007, the ACLU wrote letter on Lewis’ behalf to
Management Systems asking that that the company make an apartment available to
her family comparable in cost, amenities and location to the unit from which
they were evicted and to reimburse her for financial damages incurred by the
eviction. The company, however, did not respond.
“All too often women are
victimized twice - first by an abuser and again by a landlord,” said Kary Moss,
Executive Director of the ACLU of Michigan. “This has happened before in
Michigan but we have been able to negotiate new policies. In this case,
however, we have not been successful and are now filing this
litigation.”
Over the years, the ACLU has successfully challenged similar
policies across the country. In another case in Michigan, the Ypsilanti
Housing Commission (YHC) agreed, after the ACLU intervened, to end a policy that
led to the eviction of Aaronica Warren, a domestic violence victim. The YHC had
relied on a “one-strike rule” in its lease that permitted it to evict tenants if
there was any violence in a tenant’s apartment – even if the tenant was the
victim of the violence.
In addition, after the ACLU became involved, a
federal court in Vermont issued a first-of-its-kind ruling in Bouley v.
Young-Sabourin in 2005 holding that discriminating against victims of domestic
violence constitutes sex discrimination under the Fair Housing Act. The judge
ruled that when a landlord seeks to evict a tenant immediately after she has
been the victim of a domestic assault, the protection the Fair Housing Act
provides against sex discrimination is applicable.
Lewis is represented by
Martin and Lenora M. Lapidus of the ACLU Women’s Rights Project, and Moss and
Michael J. Steinberg, and Kary Moss of the ACLU of Michigan.
The letter sent
to Management Systems Incorporated is available online at: www.aclumich.org/tanicalewisletter.pdf
The
complaint is available online at: http://aclumich.org/pdf/lewisevictioncomplaint.pdf