Pamela Thomas has accepted $7,500 to settle her housing discrimination claim against Parkhill Apartments. According to the suit filed in February of 1997, Ms. Thomas was denied the rental of an apartment at 1932 Washtenaw Ave. in Ypsilanti because she has children and children were prohibited from occupying apartments on all but the first floor of Parkhill Apartments.
Thomas called the Fair Housing Center in April 1995 after she was denied a unit at Parkhill Apartments. According to Thomas, she was told that she and her children couldn’t rent an apartment since no first floor units were available. At the time Thomas’ daughter was three years old and her son was an infant.
Testing by the FHC supported Thomas’ claim of discrimination based on familial status. Testers posing as the parents of children were told that children were allowed only on the first floor. Testing for this investigation was funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Fair Housing Initiatives Program/Private Enforcement Initiatives.
Fair Housing Center of Washtenaw County Cooperating Attorney Paul C. Callam, of Cooper, Walinski & Cramer, filed the lawsuit in Federal District Court on behalf of Pamela Thomas. The case was assigned to Judge Horace Gilmore. Thomas v Parkhill is the 14th familial status case filed with the help of the Fair Housing Center of Washtenaw County since 1992.