Valdez v. Town of Brookhaven

No. CV-05-4323 (E.D.N.Y. Dec. 15, 2005) ; Clearinghouse Number: 55987

Description

Finding That Latino Day Laborers Established Likelihood of Success Under a Disparate Impact Theory That Town’s “No Notice, No Standards” Evictions Violate The Fair Housing Act, Court Preliminarily Enjoins Town from Seeking Ex Parte Orders Closing Premises

Abstract

Plaintiff Latino day-laborer residents of a Long Island town and the Workplace Project, a nonprofit membership organization whose mission is to end exploitation of immigrant laborers in Long Island, sued the town, the town supervisor, the county and the county supervisor over the town’s summary eviction of Latino residents based on alleged threats to health and safety. In this class action suit, plaintiffs state that the town established a new program to enforce a 1999 local act purportedly passed to improve conditions in rental housing. Plaintiffs allege that defendants abandoned preexisting enforcement mechanisms of fines and court actions against noncompliant landlords and opted instead, without statutory or regulatory authority, to evict tenants without prior notice through ex parte injunctions. Most of the over 100 people evicted at filing, plaintiffs say, became homeless or were living in worse housing. Plaintiffs say that the town normally took months from the time it initially investigated housing code violations to the time it applied for restraining orders—belying the existence of an emergency warranting immediate action. Plaintiffs claim that the town’s actions are discriminatory on the basis of national origin, race, or color in violation of the Fair Housing Act and their due process and equal protection rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. Plaintiffs seek a temporary restraining order, preliminary and permanent injunctive relief prohibiting the “no notice, no standards” evictions, compensatory and punitive damages for individual plaintiffs, and attorney fees.

Additional Information

Attorney Information
Plaintiffs represented by Sandra Del Valle, Foster Maer, Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, 99 Hudson St., 14th Floor, New York, NY 10013 (212.219.3360).
Docket Date
2005-09-27 00:00:00+00:00
Attorney Email
svalle@optonline.net