NATIONAL ORIGIN DISCRIMINATION CASE SETTLES FOR $70,000

Contact: Nancy Kenyon, Executive Director, 415-457-5025

(July 15, 2000) - As an able-bodied Caucasian male, "John" (not his real name) never expected to become the victim of discrimination, but that's exactly what occurred. What happened to John shows how discrimination hurts all of us.

In 1999, John contacted Fair Housing of Marin for help. He had been living for some time in his mobile home at the Golden Gate Trailer Park in Larkspur. He then decided to sell his trailer and move, which he thought would be easy as the park offered the rare opportunity for affordable housing in a prime Marin location. What John did not anticipate was that the owner and on site manager of the trailer park would thwart his efforts to sell his trailer home by refusing to approve the Latinos who applied to purchase the mobile home and take over the rental of his space. According to John, the on site manager of the trailer park, who has since been fired, bragged about keeping "Mexicans" out of the park and boasted that he imposed onerous conditions on Latino applicants to exclude them. The manager later told Fair Housing that he barred Latinos at the direction of the owners, who made disparaging remarks about "Mexicans" and employed the tactic of a fictitious "waiting list" to ensure that Latinos could not move in. The owners' and manager's refusal to accept Latino residents ultimately prevented John from selling his trailer.

Fair Housing of Marin investigated John's allegations and then assisted him in filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development. The California Department of Fair Employment & Housing, assigned to investigate John's complaint, concluded that there was sufficient evidence of discrimination. A key piece of evidence was that although other similarly situated trailer parks had numerous Latino residents, Golden Gate did not. Fair Housing of Marin, which had received and investigated numerous complaints of discrimination against Golden Gate in addition to John's, then joined with John to sue the trailer park owners in federal court. FHOM sued on behalf of the general public, asserting that the alleged discrimination harmed John and others like him, as well as the Latinos who sought, or might have sought, residence at Golden Gate Trailer Park. John sued because he suffered in not being able to sell his trailer. In addition, he alleged that the owners violated his First Amendment rights of association. All of us benefit by the opportunity to associate with people of different cultures. The owners' alleged discrimination deprived John and others of this chance.

Prior to trial, Golden Gate's owners settled with John and Fair Housing of Marin for $70,000. In addition to paying the monetary settlement, the settlement agreement requires the owners to post fair housing/equal opportunity materials, undergo fair housing training conducted by Fair Housing of Marin, publicize trailer park vacancies at the Canal Community Alliance, provide translators when necessary, and allow Fair Housing of Marin to inspect its records on a regular basis to ensure compliance with the terms of the settlement agreement and fair housing laws.

FHOM applauds John's courage in pursuing this case against the owners of the Golden Gate Trailer Park. FHOM's participation in the case was significant in illustrating that the alleged discrimination went far beyond just what happened to John, and harmed the community as a whole. Given the terms of the settlement agreement, we look forward to seeing many Latino residents at Golden Gate Trailer Park in the future.