Ohio Landlord Makes It 1963 All Over Again

Keep in mind that it is the Year Of Our Lord 2012 as you’re reading this. The incident described here happened in the Spring of 2011… but it might as well have been 1963.

An Ohio landlord was found to have violated state anti-discrimination laws after she hung a “white only” sign outside her swimming pool lost an appeal with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission.

Michael Gunn, a tenant at an apartment complex in Columbus, Ohio, brought his 10-year-old biracial daughter to a Memorial Day 2011 weekend pool party attended by about 20 other guests. A few days later, he wandered out to the pool only to see a sign that said “Public Swimming Pool, White Only.”

The Commission ruled the sign, which read “Public Swimming Pool, White Only,” violated state housing discrimination laws, and dismissed landlord Jamie Hein’s claim that it was only a decorative antique.

Gunn said Hein questioned him after the pool party about the “chemicals” his daughter used in her hair and blamed the girl, the only non-Caucasian at the party, for making the pool water “cloudy.”

Gunn told the Commission that once he saw the “white only” sign on the gate leading to the pool, he and his fiancé decided to move away immediately so “as not to expose my daughter to the sign and humiliation.”

As part of the Commission’s investigation, Gunn produced copies of texts he said Hein had sent to his fiancé shortly after the family moved out, blaming “grease” in his daughter’s hair for the cloudy condition of the pool.

After an investigation into the allegations and “informal efforts to resolve the case,” the Civil Rights Commission ruled that Hein had violated the law.

Hein requested an appeal after the initial findings, but neither she nor her attorney attended the hearing.

See more here.

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