A tenant at Parris Towers, a public housing complex in Little Rock, has filed a federal lawsuit against the Metropolitan Housing Alliance and its officials alleging discrimination against his fiancee.
Leon Nash, the resident, and Carrie Lester, his fiancee, filed the lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Arkansas without the help of an attorney.
Their complaint alleges that Angela Davis, the property manager of Parris Towers, banned Lester from the building. Lester is pregnant with Nash's child, the lawsuit states.
"Since Plaintiff Lester began visiting Plaintiff Nash, Defendant Davis started harassing Plaintiff Lester by accusing her of being a prostitute," the complaint said.
"Defendant Davis has never treated Afro-American tenants or tenants' guests in such a manner as Defendant Davis does to white guests," the lawsuit claims.
Lester is white. Nash and Davis are black.
The complaint states that when Lester was in the lobby of the complex one day with her bags, waiting for Nash to take her to a women's shelter in Benton, Davis approached her and accused her of living with Nash.
Davis then banned Lester from the building and said she would take Lester to the shelter herself, which she did during business hours while on the clock, the lawsuit said. The complaint alleges that during the ride Davis questioned Lester about living with Nash, but Lester said she didn't.
Nash appealed the ban to Director of Agency Assets Carl Smith, who upheld the ban, the complaint states.
The complaint also said Davis uses keys to access residents' apartments without written notice, but it gave no specific instance of that happening.
The lawsuit has been assigned to U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. It alleges violations of the Fair Housing Act and requests unspecified monetary damages, civil penalties and the reversal of the ban against Lester.
Rodney Forte, executive director of the Metropolitan Housing Authority, said he could not comment on ongoing legal matters.
The lawsuit names the following as defendants: Forte, Smith, Davis, Housing Authority Deputy Executive Director Dana Arnette, Housing Board Chairman Kenyon Lowe, the rest of the board members and board attorney Mark Davis.
Metro on 08/19/2015