Today, the Equal Rights Center (ERC) and GREP Atlantic, LLC (Greystar) announced they have entered into a groundbreaking collaboration agreement in which Greystar will proactively address fair housing concerns raised by the ERC following a civil rights testing investigation.

In response the ERC’s outreach, Greystar quickly expressed an interest in working with the ERC to ensure compliance with fair housing requirements and best practices in Virginia and to serve as an industry leader for other housing providers seeking to comply with Virginia’s fair housing laws. The agreement covers all Greystar-managed properties in Virginia and as a result of today’s agreement, which will last for at least five years, Greystar will:

On August 31, 2022, Handley Farah & Anderson filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on behalf of a group of former employees of Barton Malow Company and MBA Construction, Inc., alleging their employers failed to properly compensate workers for work done at numerous construction sites across Virginia, including sites at Virginia Commonwealth University. The Complaint alleges that while employed by Defendants at various Virginia project sites, Plaintiffs regularly worked in excess of forty hours per week but were not paid at the required time and a half overtime rate.

On August 31, 2022, Handley Farah & Anderson filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on behalf of a group of former employees of J A G Contractors Inc., and Hensel Phelps Development, L.L.C., alleging their employers failed to properly compensate workers for work done at the Bethesda Marriot Project in Maryland. The Complaint alleges that while employed by Defendants, Plaintiffs regularly worked in excess of forty hours per week but were not paid at the required time and a half overtime rate. Additionally, the complaint alleges that Plaintiffs were not paid for multiple weeks of work, Plaintiffs were paid less than minimum wage, and that Plaintiffs were illegally classified as independent contractors when they were in fact employees. 

On August 26, 2022, Handley Farah & Anderson filed a lawsuit in Superior Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of a group of former employees of C.R. Millwork LLC, Whiting Turner Contracting Company and CBG Building Company, alleging their employers failed to properly compensate workers for work done at numerus construction sites in the District of Columbia Metropolitan area. The Complaint alleges that while employed by Defendants at various project sites, Plaintiffs regularly worked in excess of forty hours per week but were not paid at the required time and a half overtime rate, that Plaintiffs were paid less than minimum wage, and that Plaintiffs were illegally classified as independent contractors when they were in fact employees.

On August 25, 2022, Handley Farah & Anderson filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government in federal court in Brooklyn on behalf of a Honduran father and daughter that were forcibly separated at the United States’ border by U.S. government agents.  The lawsuit alleges that this forceable separation caused severe and unjustified trauma and injury to this family. The Trump Administration deliberately and intentionally separated families at the border despite their knowledge of the irreversible harm this would cause, and without a plan for reuniting such families.

A lawsuit filed in New York County Supreme Court accuses 28 landlords and real estate brokers of discriminating against low-income tenants.

The Legal Aid Society filed the suit, claiming the minimum income requirements set by landlords basically bar anyone using a housing voucher.

Landlords often require prospective tenants to earn 40 times the annual rent, even if their voucher would cover their entire monthly payment.

If an apartment is $1,500 a month, that would be $60,000 a year.

The average housing choice voucher holder in New York City makes around $19,000 a year.

Two customers have hit Fiat Chrysler with a proposed class action in New Jersey federal court, alleging that the automaker has resumed the practice of charging so-called phantom freight by artificially jacking up charges passed on to customers for delivering new vehicles to dealerships.

Decades after the allegedly deceptive practice ceased due to “congressional intervention,” FCA US LLC has been issuing “destination charges” in recent years that are far more than the actual costs of transporting vehicles to dealers, according to the complaint filed Wednesday by plaintiffs Christopher Lindsey and BCR Carpentry LLC.

A contingent of New York City landlords and real estate brokers are promising to give low-income renters a fairer shake, as part of the settlement of a federal discrimination lawsuit filed by the advocacy group Housing Rights Initiative (HRI). Earlier this month, HRI announced a proposed agreement with 23 landlords and real estate brokers, including some of the biggest names in the industry.

Another D.C. apartment building is being accused of housing discrimination after it allegedly turned away low-income applicants who hold rental assistance vouchers. In a complaint filed Monday in D.C. Superior Court, the Equal Rights Center alleges that management at the Adams View apartments in Cleveland Park illegally denied housing to potential residents who receive rent assistance under the federal Housing Choice voucher program.

The non-profit organization Housing Rights Initiative (“HRI”) and Compass, Inc. (“Compass”) have announced a cooperation agreement to settle HRI’s claims of source of income discrimination against Compass. The agreement will reinforce Compass’s policies and practices applicable to NYC Compass agents based on Compass’s commitment that recipients of housing vouchers do not face discrimination when searching for housing in New York City.