Williams v. Poretsky Management, Inc., Civil Action No. CCB-95-2051.

• Decision Date: 15 October 1996
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. CCB-95-2051.
• Citation: 955 F.Supp. 490
• Parties: Lisa D. WILLIAMS, et al. v. PORETSKY MANAGEMENT, INC., et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

955 F.Supp. 490

Lisa D. WILLIAMS, et al. v. PORETSKY MANAGEMENT, INC., et al.

Civil Action No. CCB-95-2051.

United States District Court, D. Maryland.

October 15, 1996.

John P. Relman, Christine R. Ladd, Washington Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, Washington, DC and Monica Wagner, Margaret E. Johnson, Terris, Pravlik & Wagner, Washington, DC, for Plaintiffs.

Norman G. Schneider, Kamerow & Kamerow, PC, Washington, DC, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

BLAKE, District Judge.

In this case, the plaintiff presents a novel question regarding the type of conduct actionable as discrimination on the basis of sex under the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq. Lisa D. Williams claims that the defendants, the real estate management company that manages Chevet Manor Apartments and its owners, violated the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 3604, 3617, because of sexual harassment committed by their employee. She asserts that Harry Little, the porter of Ms. Williams' apartment building, sexually assaulted her in the elevator of the building on July 23, 1993 and then in the laundry room later that same night. The harassment continued after Ms. Williams reported the incident: Mr. Little told other residents about Ms. Williams' complaint, accused her of trying to have him fired, and called her derogatory names. The apartment resident manager, to whom Ms. Williams reported the incident, nevertheless assigned Mr. Little to repair jobs that needed to be done in Ms. Williams' apartment. On Halloween in 1993, a group of masked men frightened Ms. Williams and her son and accused her of making trouble for Mr. Little. Ms. Williams complained following each incident. After the Halloween incident, she asked to be released from her lease, and the property manager refused her request. Ms. Williams is joined in her suit by the Fair Housing Council of Greater Washington (the "FHC"), an organization dedicated to ending discrimination in housing.

The defendants now seek summary judgment, arguing that they did not interfere with Ms. William's rights under the Fair Housing Act. First, the defendants argue that Ms. Williams has not made a prima facie case of discrimination in the rental of housing under 42 U.S.C. § 3604(a), because Ms. Williams was never denied the right to rent her apartment. Second, the defendants argue that Ms. Williams was never denied any of the privileges of her rental contract under 42 U.S.C. § 3604(b), because she had access to all parts of the apartment building and even used the "party room," a room available for use by the tenants, for her own surprise birthday party after the alleged incidents occurred. Third, the defendants argue that Ms. Williams was never coerced, intimidated, or threatened because she made a discrimination claim, because she did not file her complaint until the fall of 1995 and no facts exist to show any intimidation, coercion, or threats against her since that time. Finally, relying heavily upon Ms. Williams' failure to report these incidents to the police, the defendants argue that the incident complained of was isolated and trivial and should not serve as a basis for recovery. The defendants also argue that the Fair Housing Council has no standing and that the plaintiffs are not entitled to an award of punitive damages. For the reasons that follow, the defendants' motion for summary judgment will be denied.

BACKGROUND

Ms. Williams and her son Gary moved into apartment number 602 of the Chevet Manor Apartments in Oxon Hill, Maryland on or about March 1, 1993. (Defs.' Answer, Ninth Defense ¶¶ 9, 11.) On the evening of July 23, 1993, Ms. Williams was styling the hair of some friends in her apartment. (Williams Dep. at p. 96, Pls.' Ex. 2; Dandridge Aff., Pls.' Ex. 13.) About 7:30 p.m., Ms. Williams left her apartment to get some laundry from the apartment laundry room, located in the basement of the building. (Williams Dep. at p. 85, Pls.' Ex. 2.) When Ms. Williams entered the elevator to go down to the basement, Mr. Little, a man employed by Poretsky management to do minor repairs in the building, was already on the elevator. (Id. at pp. 85-87.) While they were in the elevator together, Mr. Little touched or grabbed Ms. Williams' buttocks. (Id. at pp. 87-89.) Ms. Williams immediately pushed Mr. Little away and told him never to touch her. (Id. at p. 89.) Mr. Little exited on the first floor, and Ms. Williams proceeded to the laundry room. (Id. at p. 90.) While Ms. Williams, who was leaning against a table, was waiting for some clothes to finish drying, Mr. Little entered the laundry room. (Id. at p. 92.) Mr. Little put one of his hands on each side of Ms. Williams and pinned her body against the table with his body. (Id. at p. 93.) Mr. Little attempted to kiss Ms. Williams. (Id.) Ms. Williams fought against Mr. Little, but he continued to rub his body, including his penis, against her and would not let her go. (Id. at p. 94; Pls.' Ex. 6.) Ms. Williams was screaming and struggling. Eventually, she managed to free a hand and strike Mr. Little across the face. Mr. Little then ran out of the laundry room. (Williams Dep. at p. 94, Pls.' Ex. 2.) The following day, Mr. Little came to Ms. Williams apartment door and pounded on it, demanding that Ms. Williams speak to him. (Id. at pp. 111-13; Dandridge Aff., Pls.' Ex. 13.) Ms. Williams refused to answer the door.

On or about July 26, 1993, Ms. Williams delivered a letter, (Pls.' Ex. 6), to the resident manager of the Chevet Manor Apartments, Dan Paynter, that described the incidents on July 23, 1993 and July 24, 1993. (Williams Dep. at p. 50, Pls.' Ex. 2; Hampton Dep. at p. 48, Pls.' Ex. 14.) On or about July 29, 1993, Mr. Paynter met with Ms. Williams and a friend of Ms. Williams, Ms. Hampton. (Defs.' Answer, Ninth Defense ¶ 17.) Mr. Paynter assured Ms. Williams that Mr. Little either would be fired or transferred from Chevet Manor. (Williams Dep. at p. 53, Pls.' Ex. 2.) Mr. Paynter did meet with Mr. Little but Mr. Little denied the allegations. (Paynter Dep. at p. 73, Pls.' Ex. 11.) Mr. Paynter reported this incident to the property manager, Don Thompson, and asked Mr. Little to stay away from Ms. Williams, (Id. at 75), but no other action was taken.

Instead of keeping Mr. Little away from Ms. Williams, Mr. Paynter continued to assign Mr. Little to do repairs in Ms. Williams' apartment. Later in July, Ms. Williams' air conditioning broke down. (Williams Dep. at p. 132, 178-79, Pls.' Ex. 2.) Mr. Paynter offered to send Mr. Little to do the work. (Id.) Because Ms. Williams refused to allow Mr. Little into her apartment, she was forced to wait over a month for the repairs to be done. (Id.) On September 27, 1993, Mr. Paynter assigned Mr. Little to repair a leaky faucet in Ms. Williams' apartment. (Paynter Dep. at pp. 110-11.)

When Mr. Little saw Ms. Williams in the apartment building, he harassed her verbally. As she walked past him one day in October Mr. Little, in a voice loud enough for her to hear, said that Ms. Williams was the bitch that was trying to get him fired. (Williams Dep. at pp. 261-63, Pls. Ex. 2.) On another occasion Mr. Little called Ms. Williams a freak. (Id.) Ms. Williams reported both incidents to Dan Paynter. (Id.)

On October 31, 1993, Ms. Williams and her son were approached by two men in masks whom she had seen earlier with Mr. Little. (Id. at pp. 136-39.) They tried to touch Ms. Williams and said that Mr. Little had told them she was a freak. (Id.) Ms. Williams managed to push past the men and enter her apartment. After this incident, she wrote a second letter of complaint to Mr. Paynter and asked to be released from her lease. (Pls.' Ex. 7.) Mr. Thompson, the property manager, refused to release Ms. Williams from her lease. (Thompson Dep. at pp. 40, 69-70, Pls.' Ex. 8.) In the middle of December 1993, Ms. Williams left her apartment. (Williams Dep. at p. 154, Pls.' Ex. 2.) In October and November of 1995, Dr. Elizabeth Morrison completed a psychological evaluation of Ms. Williams and diagnosed her as suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Major Depression as a consequence of the events that occurred at Chevet Manor Apartments. (Report of Elizabeth Morrison, M.D., Pls.' Ex. 23.)

ANALYSIS

I. Standing of the Fair Housing Council of Greater Washington

Before addressing the merits of Ms. Williams' claim, the court must decide whether the Fair Housing Council of Greater Washington (the "FHC") has standing in this matter. Ms. Williams is joined in this suit by the FHC, a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting equal housing opportunity and eliminating discriminatory housing practices based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or handicap. (Berenbaum Decl. ¶ 2, Pls.' Ex. 3.) The FHC has devoted significant resources to counseling Ms. Williams and investigating her complaint. (Id. ¶ 4.) To date, the FHC has spent over 122 hours on matters related to Ms. Williams' complaint and case, at a cost to the organization of $12,200. (Id.) The FHC claims that the defendants' discriminatory actions have caused the FHC to divert its scarce resources to identifying and counteracting the defendants' discriminatory practices, taking time and money from the FHC's usual educational and counseling activities. (Id. at ¶ 5.)

The Supreme Court has held that an organization has standing to sue in its own right under the Fair Housing Act when the alleged discriminatory practices have "perceptibly impaired" the organization's usual efforts against discrimination. Havens Realty Corp. v. Coleman, 455 U.S. 363, 379, 102 S.Ct. 1114, 1124-25, 71 L.Ed.2d 214 (1982). In Havens, the discriminatory activity involved steering black potential tenants away from the defendants' apartment complexes. Id. at 367 The organization spent considerable time identifying and counteracting the discriminatory practices, by sending "testers" to the apartment complexes in question to find...