New York's Cooperative and Condominium Community
I was recently subject to a discriminatory comment made by the Property Manager in my NYC Coop. I am aware that most discrimination lawsuits happen due to the denial of Board approval to become a shareholder.
I currently reside in this coop, and have for many years with a disability, which laws would apply to my situation and is there any recourse that I can take.
Introduce yourself to other members of Board Talk! Log in below or register here.
Board Talk members who registered prior to March 9th, 2016 will need to reset their password.
Habitat U: learn about how to manage a building, and what you should know as a co-op or condo board member.
Search, by word or phrase, all magazine articles from January 2002 to present. You may print or email your results. Print subscribers receive free access to the Habitat Article Archive.
Learn all the basics of NYC co-op and condo management, with straight talk from heavy hitters in the field of co-op or condo apartments
Professionals in some of the key fields of co-op and condo board governance and building management answer common questions in their areas of expertise
Got elected? Are you on your co-op/condo board?
Then don’t miss a beat! Stories you can use to make your building better, keep it out of trouble, save money, enhance market value, and make your board life a whole lot easier!
In order to know what recourse you may have, it seems that you'd have to show how you were hurt/damaged by the PM's comments and/or actions.
For example, let's say your disability prevents you from climbing the front steps and you requested that the PM install a handicap access entrance to your building. If his response was "You don't look handicapped to me so we're not installing an access ramp", then you are being physically hurt/damaged by the PM's comments and you probably have a good chance of showing how his comments hurt your quality of life.
But, if he made a nasty remark that only hurt your feelings, there may not be much recourse for you.
I can tell you from experience that you will have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that his comment was discriminatory, and you will have to show how you were hurt/damaged as a result. Can you prove it? Were there witnesses? Was he stupid enough to put it in writing? For your sake I hope so.
Discrimination actions require as much supporting documentation, evidence, and proof as possible in order to win your case. They will often end up being adjudicated by the NYC Commission on Human Rights.
Here's some links that may help:
http://www1.nyc.gov/nyc-resources/service/1525/report-discrimination
http://www1.nyc.gov/site/fairhousing/contact-us/file-a-complaint.page
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/cchr/enforcement/complaint-process.page
I wish you good luck.
Thank you for rating!
You have already rated this page, you can only rate it once!
Your rating has been changed, thanks for rating!
Board Talk members who registered prior to March 9th, 2016 will need to reset their password.