Smith v. Mission Associates Ltd. Partnership, 01-2416-JAR.

• Decision Date: 04 October 2002
• Docket Number: No. 01-2416-JAR.,01-2416-JAR.
• Citation: 225 F.Supp.2d 1293
• Parties: Richard SMITH, Wardah Muhammad, Dwayne McFadden, Larry McFadden, Tiffany McFadden and Ray Cole, Plaintiffs, v. MISSION ASSOCIATES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, a Connecticut limited partnership, d/b/a Heritage Hills Apartments and Old Farms Management, Inc., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Kansas

225 F.Supp.2d 1293

Richard SMITH, Wardah Muhammad, Dwayne McFadden, Larry McFadden, Tiffany McFadden and Ray Cole, Plaintiffs, v. MISSION ASSOCIATES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, a Connecticut limited partnership, d/b/a Heritage Hills Apartments and Old Farms Management, Inc., Defendants.

No. 01-2416-JAR.

United States District Court, D. Kansas.

October 4, 2002.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Dan C. Sanders, Monaco, Sanders & Racine, Kansas City, MO, for Plaintiffs.

Todd W. Ruskamp, Stacey A. Campbell, Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P., Kansas City, MO, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART SUMMARY JUDGMENT

ROBINSON, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 47). Plaintiffs have filed a response (Doc. 57) and defendants have filed a Reply (Doc. 65). Plaintiffs allege they were subjected to discrimination under the Fair Housing Act ("FHA") 42 U.S.C. § 3604(a)—(d), 42 U.S.C. § 3617, the Civil Rights Act of 1870, 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and § 1982 (" § 1981 and § 1982") and state claims of defamation and outrage. Having carefully considered the parties' arguments and applicable law, the Court finds that Mission Associates Limited Partnership's motion for summary judgment should be granted in part and denied in part.

I. Standards for Summary Judgment

Summary judgment is appropriate "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law."¹ The requirement of a "genuine" issue of fact means that the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.² Essentially, the inquiry is "whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to a jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law."³

The moving party bears the initial burden of demonstrating the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. This burden may be met by showing that there is a lack of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case.⁴ Once the moving party has properly supported its motion for summary judgment, the burden shifts to the nonmoving party to show that there is a genuine issue of material fact left for trial.⁵ "A party opposing a properly supported motion for summary judgment may not rest on mere allegations or denials of his pleading, but must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial."⁶ Therefore, the mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment.⁷ The court must consider the record in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.⁸

II. Facts

The following facts are either uncontroverted or, if controverted, construed in the light most favorable to plaintiffs as the non-moving party. Any immaterial facts and factual averments not properly supported by the record are omitted.

Heritage Hills is an apartment complex in Mission, Kansas, owned by Mission Associates Limited Partnership ("Mission Associates") and operated by Old Farms Management. Plaintiff Richard Smith ("Smith") is a white male who worked for Heritage Hills as a maintenance supervisor from September 1995 to March 2001. Plaintiff Wardah Muhammad, a/k/a Rose, ("Muhammad") is a white female, the girlfriend of Smith, who lived with him at Heritage Hills from May 1999 to March 2001. Plaintiffs Tiffani, Larry and Duane McFadden are the bi-racial children of Muhammad and lived with Smith at Heritage Hills. Plaintiff Ray Cole is a black male and the boyfriend of Tiffani McFadden.

Part of Smith's compensation as a maintenance supervisor was an apartment in Heritage Hills. Smith first lived in a one bedroom apartment. During his employment, Smith lived in four different apartments due to size accommodations for the person(s) living with him. The last move was to a three bedroom apartment in May 1999 in order to accommodate Smith, his live-in girlfriend Muhammad and her three children, one of whom, Tiffani McFadden, lived with Smith for only a short time. Heritage Hills allowed Smith to move into a larger apartment in May 1999 and still gave him the free rent associated with his employment. Smith signed a month to month lease for the apartment, as was the policy for Heritage Hills' employees.

Smith signed an addendum to a lease in 1997 at Heritage Hills agreeing that if his employment ended, he was required to vacate the property within two weeks. This addendum was not re-executed on the three bedroom apartment in 1999. Rather, Lana Snell, the on-site property manager at Heritage Hills, crossed out the apartment number on the 1997 form and replaced it with the apartment number for the three bedroom apartment. Snell then attached the altered addendum to the May 1999 three bedroom lease.

Plaintiffs allege that remarks and conduct of defendants created a hostile housing environment at Heritage Hills. Larry McFadden claims that Ryan Agee, the son of Lana Snell and a groundskeeper at Heritage Hills, told him that he didn't like "niggers." Larry McFadden also claims that Lana Snell made derogatory remarks about a black female employee. Duane McFadden claims that Lana Snell ordered him and his friends to leave the weight room at Heritage Hills because they were under 18 and unsupervised. Duane McFadden alleges that unsupervised white minors were not asked to leave. Heritage Hills required minors to be supervised by adults in the weight room. It is disputed whether a sign to this effect was posted when the McFaddens used the weight room. Plaintiffs claim that in the fall of 2000, Lana Snell and Ryan Agee accused Larry and Duane McFadden of breaking into cars at the complex and claimed that they suspected the McFaddens because "they were the only black children" living at Heritage Hills. Larry McFadden claims that Ryan Agee accused him of turning the complex into a "ghetto."

Smith claims that Lana Snell frequently made derogatory remarks about him. He alleges that Snell said that "Rick is half black," "Rick is a nigger lover," "Rick has sex with colored girls so his dick has turned black," "Rick sticks a sock down his pants," Rick had sex with black women in vacant apartments because "large butts [were] found in the carpet," and "how can you have sex with black women, yuck, that's nasty." Plaintiffs allege that Lana Snell frequently referred to African-Americans as "coloreds" or "spooks." Plaintiffs also allege that Lana Snell referred to the McFadden children as "mulattos" or "oreos."

Smith also claims that Lana Snell repeatedly said things about his sexual orientation. Smith claims that she said he was gay, that he was on the fence and that she told a gay tenant to "hit on" Smith because he was also gay. In December 2000, someone wrote "Rick is gay. 1/2 black too!" on a blackboard in the leasing office at Heritage Hills. Smith complained to Lana Snell in December about the blackboard. This statement remained on the black board until sometime in February 2001. Smith also claims he went to Lana Snell in January 2001 and complained about disparaging and harassing comments made by Snell.

On February 8, 2001, Smith was in an altercation with Ryan Agee. Ryan Agee struck Smith with a dowel rod that had a 16 penny nail at the end of it. Smith alleges that Ryan Agee accused him of turning the complex into a "ghetto" and that the fight was over trash strewn about the complex. Smith reported the incident to Snell and Snell told him to clock out for lunch. James Durham, the President of Old Farms Management and the general partner of Mission Associates, was contacted and discussed the incident with Smith. Smith did not return to work after February 8, 2001.

Smith received treatment for injuries sustained when Ryan Agee struck him with the dowel rod. An emergency room physician advised Smith to remain off work until February 12, 2001 and then to follow up with a "worker's compensation care physician." Heritage Hills terminated Smith's employment on March 12, 2001. Between February 8, 2001 and March 12, 2001, Smith and James Durham exchanged numerous e-mails regarding his physical condition, his visits to a doctor, filing a worker's compensation claim and when he would return to work. On March 12, 2001, James Durham ("Durham") advised Smith that if he did not telephone Durham or come into work or provide a doctor's statement showing he could not work, he would be terminated at the end of the day. Smith did not contact Durham on March 12, 2001 and was subsequently terminated. Durham advised Smith, by letter, on March 15, 2001 that he was terminated and had two weeks to vacate the apartment. Smith did not receive an option to begin paying rent.

In August 2000, Tiffani McFadden and Ray Cole approached Debra Martinez, a Heritage Hills employee in the leasing office, about renting a one or two bedroom apartment. Debra Martinez told them that the only apartment available for viewing was not within walking distance of the leasing office. Pursuant to office policy or procedure, leasing agents were not allowed to transport potential tenants in their vehicles for liability reasons. Tiffani McFadden and Ray Cole were told that they would need to drive up to the apartment to view it and that Ms. Martinez would drive her car up there and meet them. Tiffani McFadden and Ray Cole did not have a car to take to view the apartment. They left and did not return to view an apartment.

III. Analysis

A. Hostile Housing Environment Claim/Plaintiffs Richard Smith, Wardah Muhammad, Duane McFadden and Larry McFadden

Plaintiffs claim that defendants subjected them to a hostile housing environment in violation of the FHA, § 1982 and § 1981.⁹ This claim is brought by plaintiffs Smith, Muhammad, Tiffani McFadden and Duane McFadden. To...