Two men, Shannon Moody and Robert Stowe, accepted $20,000 to settle their sex discrimination suit against Roland and Joan Frey of Ann Arbor. According to the suit, Roland and Joan Frey refused to rent their Potter Street apartment to two men. Moody and Stowe contacted the Fair Housing Center to report the incident. Male and female testers were used to support the claim of discrimination based on gender. Testing for this complaint was funded by a contract with Washtenaw County
Stowe and Moody initially asked FHC staff to resolve the case without litigation. The Frey’s, through their attorney, offered the men $100.00 to settle the case. “At that point we realized we had to go to court,” said Shannon Moody.
Filed in Federal District Court, by Fair Housing Center Cooperating Attorney Steve Tomkowiak, the case was assigned to Judge George Caram Steeh. This is the first time the Fair Housing Center has aided men in a claim of sex discrimination under the Federal Housing Act.