The state Human Rights Commission ruled Monday that a Norridgewock couple discriminated against a former tenant last summer by attempting to evict her for having a service dog in her rented home and then retaliated against her for filing a fair housing complaint with the commission.
The commission vote was 5-0 each on claims of discrimination and retaliation brought against property owners Oakley and Donna Brann of Norridgewock by Dawn Zammuto whose daughter visited her home accompanied by a service dog last August in violation of the Branns’ no pets rule.
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The rulings Monday mean a 90-day conciliation will begin during which the parties can attempt to settle the matter without having to go to court, according to commission case controller Cindy Rocque.
Monetary damages are typical in such cases, said Patricia Ender, a staff attorney and fair housing coordinator at Pine Tree Legal Assistance, which is representing Zammuto.
“There could be out-of-pocket costs, but there’s also actual damages, which include emotional distress damages in housing,” Ender said earlier this month. “There can also be attorney fees and legal penalties under state law and punitive damages under both state and federal law.”
If there is no voluntary agreement for damages, the commission can file a lawsuit against the Branns on behalf of Zammuto, or she can file her own claim against her landlords .
“We’re required to file civil suit in any housing cases in court that we find cause to believe that discrimination has occurred,” Rocque said.
Skowhegan attorney John Martin, who represented the Branns at Monday’s commission hearing, said the Branns should not be subject to the law because they withdrew their original eviction order. They evicted Zammuto a couple of weeks later for non-payment of rent.
A commission investigator earlier this month found reasonable grounds to believe that the Branns violated the Maine Human Rights Act in their treatment of Zammuto. The commission vote Monday upheld those findings.
The investigator also found that the Branns illegally retaliated against Zammuto by starting an eviction process after she filed a fair housing complaint with the commission.
The Maine Human Rights Act makes it illegal for a property owner to refuse to make reasonable accommodations in housing for a person with a physical or mental disability. The act and the commission’s regulations also provide that it is unlawful for a property owner to refuse to permit the use of a service animal, according to the investigator’s report.
The violations are alleged to have begun in August and continued into October when Zammuto moved to Farmington, according to the report. Zammuto allowed her daughter’s service dog to visit the house for five days in August. The Branns said that was a violation of the lease, which doesn’t allow pets.
Martin said at the time his clients’ position was that the language of the lease is clear — no pets allowed, no exceptions.
Zammuto, who cares for her daughter’s two sons, aged 4 and 2, said the dog was not a pet, but a service animal and was not living permanently in the home on Hatto Farm Road in Norridgewock.
Before moving into the home, Zammuto had camped in the area and visited Donna Brann, according to the investigator’s report.
“During the conversation Mrs. Brann did not say anything about restricting visitors,” the investigator wrote in her report. “Ms. Zammuto was open about the fact that her adult daughters would probably visit her around the holidays with their service dogs.”
Zammuto’s daughter, Jessica Botto, has conversion disorder, a condition in which psychological stress presents in physical ways and requires use of a service dog. Botto, of Lynn, Mass., can’t walk at times and requires the use of a wheelchair and the dog to get around. Zammuto’s other daughter, Heather Conway of Malden, Mass., has Lupus and also uses a service dog.
Zammuto signed the lease in July and moved in the following month. Botto arrived the first week of August to help her unpack. She brought Gracie Goose, an 8-year-old Australian shepherd-Husky mix, with her.
Zammuto was served with a seven-day notice to vacate the premises on Aug. 12, according to the report.
Zammuto was served with a forcible entry and detainer action on Aug. 25, but she did not begin to move out until Oct. 27. On Oct. 28, Zammuto said she was being followed to her new home by Oakley Brann seeking money owed to them. Zammuto considered Brann’s activity to be stalking and called police who later served him with a protection from harassment order.
There is no avenue for appeal of the commission vote.
Martin said he will continue to represent the Branns during the conciliation process.
“Because they withdrew their initial petition (for eviction) I just don’t think there was any harm done here,” Martin said Monday. “I don’t think the Branns should be subject to that definition of attempted eviction because they withdrew the eviction petition.”
Doug Harlow — 612-2367
Twitter: @Doug_Harlow
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