Anti-War landlady refuses to rent to Veteran, promptly sued

I've officially been a lawyer for about 16 hours, but I can say that in that time, this is the best case I've read. Here's the background from WBZ Boston:So anyway, the lawyer in this case was kind enough to send me a copy of the lawsuit. Now, bear in mind that Massachusetts law recognizes veterans as a sort of protected class, so that under their law (M.G.L. c 151B) you can't discriminate based on veterans status.

Seriously, why would this lady leave a message like this? If she didn't want to rent to him, she should have just rented to someone else. By putting her "politics" and "social consciousness" out there she seems to have violated the law.
I just don't get why someone would do that. Her admission that he was "very qualified" is going to make it tough for her to prove there was some other reason for her denying him.
Best of luck to you SGT Morgan.
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Comments
Robert Ireland
June 7, 2012 - 6:00pm
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Direct Confrontation
I don't think the woman refusing to rent to a veteran, in direct violation of the law, is doing this the way she did for any other reason than a direct confrontation in an attempt to get the courts to overturn the law because it interferes with her "deeply held personal" beliefs. This appears to not only be directed toward the state's anti-veteran discrimination (veterans preference) law but also designed to elevate "deeply held personal" beliefs to the level of religious belief (the implication being, deeply held personal beliefs, like religious beliefs, must be observed as a First Amendment guarantee and thus no law can be enforced that violates First Amendment guarantees) and thus "deeply held personal" beliefs trump state law. The whole thing stinks of a deliberate attempt to undermine the law and muddy First Amendment guarantees.
With the current assault on our First Amendment (Stolen Valor, forcing religious care givers to provide abortion and contraception in direct violation of their religious beliefs) I not only hope the sergeant wins his case, more importantly I hope America wins this case and our Constitutional guarantees are not further undermined.
Robert Ireland (PUFL)
Nate (not verified)
June 28, 2012 - 12:53am
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They said that in that state
They said that in that state eternal are protected by law from descrimination. So she was breaking the law by discriminating a veteran.
Jeff (not verified)
June 7, 2012 - 7:00pm
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I wonder how conflicted the
I wonder how conflicted the the landlady would be if SGT Morgan was black or female, or (Holy Integration Batman) both!
John La Rochelle
June 8, 2012 - 2:30pm
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I'm very fortunate that I've
I'm very fortunate that I've never had to rent anything from an individual. Woudn't want any dealings whatsoever with this lady. She's a problem to be avoided like the plague. The way things are this day and age it just might be best to move on. Lawsuits generally are most advantageous to the lawyers.
Roberts is a douche (not verified)
June 28, 2012 - 2:15am
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roberts should be deported to a middle east country
roberts should be deported to a middle east country and set free in somewhere like downtown Yemen with an American flag around her. Then see what she thinks about our Country!! She will love it then!! She is a douchebag that needs to be ousted out of our Country and any other disease infested individuals like her!!!
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