Landlord found guilty of discrimination for 'White Only' sign
theGRIO REPORT - In a recent hearing, The Ohio Civil Rights Commission has ruled a Cincinnati landlord discriminated against an African-American child by posting a "White Only" sign on the apartment complex's pool...
In a recent hearing, The Ohio Civil Rights Commission has ruled a Cincinnati landlord discriminated against an African-American child by posting a “White Only” sign on the apartment complex’s pool.
In a case theGrio first covered back in December of last year, white Ohio landlord Jamie Hein requested that the Ohio Civil Rights Commission reconsider their September findings. They found that Hein violated the Ohio Civil Rights Act by posting a sign that reads, “Public Swimming Pool, White Only” on her duplex’s swimming pool gate.
Hein originally reported putting the sign on the gate because an African-American teenage girl, who was visiting her parents at the duplex, used chemicals in her hair that made the water “cloudy.” When the young girl saw the sign, her father, Michael Gunn, filed a discrimination charge with the commission and moved out of the duplex in an effort to “avoid subjecting their family to further humiliating treatment.”
The landlord defended her use of the sign, telling ABC that the sign dated back 1931, from Alabama. Also stating “if I have to stick up for my white rights, I have to stick up for my white rights. It goes both ways.”
After considering her appeal, the Ohio Civil Rights Commission has once again found that the landlord discriminated against the Gunn family by posting the “White Only” sign. Hein may face penalties such as a cease-and-desist order and punitive damages.
Follow Carrie Healey on Twitter @CarrieHeals.
