FHC-Washtenaw Cooperating Attorney David Cahill filed a lawsuit on behalf of Deborah Johnson. According to the suit, filed in Washtenaw County Circuit Court, Johnson was denied the rental of a two-bedroom apartment at Stadium Apartments in Ann Arbor because she had three children in her family.
According to Johnson she was told that she couldn’t rent the apartment because she planned to share a room with her niece, that the complex did not really want children in the units, and that they usually denied families with children. Statements from a witness support Johnson’s claim of discrimination based on familial status. The case was assigned to Chief Judge Melinda Morris.