United States Ex Rel. Anti-Discrimination Center of Metro New York, Inc. v. Westchester County

The intervening plaintiff C filed a complaint with the plaintiff Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities alleging discrimination in housing against the defendant. The commission filed a complaint in the trial court, claiming that the defendant had engaged in a prohibited discrimi- natory housing practice pursuant to statute (§ 46a-64c (a) (1) and (3)) by denying C an opportunity to rent or view a rental property and making discriminatory statements about C's ability to rent the property on the basis of a lawful source of income, a voucher pursuant to section 8 of the National Housing Act (42 U.S.C. § 1437f). The defendant, who had told C that the property was not ''section 8 ready,'' also claimed that C's credit score, which C had reported as ''fair,'' did not meet her requirements. The court rendered judgment in favor of the commission and C, and the defendant appealed to this court. Held: 1. The defendant could not prevail on her claim that there was insufficient evidence in the record to support the trial court's conclusion that the defendant violated subdivisions (1) and (3) of § 46a-64c (a): a. There was sufficient evidence to support the trial court's conclusion that the defendant had engaged in a prohibited discriminatory housing practice pursuant to § 46a-64c (a) (1): testimony by a previous tenant that he did not provide the defendant with his credit score prior to viewing the property supported the court's finding that the defendant did not have a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for failing to show C the rental property; moreover, this court declined to review the defen- dant's unpreserved challenge to documentary evidence from individuals who had posed as prospective tenants to determine whether her actions toward C were legally actionable and testimony related to those prospec- tive tenants, as she did not make any objections to that evidence or testimony during the trial, and this court declined to assess the weight of the documentary evidence