Correction:
This story has been corrected to reflect that the Ohio Attorney General’s office serves as legal counsel for the Ohio Civil Rights Commission — the OCRC is a state-level agency, not part of the attorney general's office.
The Ohio Civil Rights Commission accused a Fairlawn-based company that owns local residential properties and its property manager of unlawfully discriminating against a tenant in an East Akron property because she is a Black mother of minor children.
According to a complaint filed Tuesday afternoon in the Summit County Court of Common Pleas, Summit Property Investments, LLC property manager Jefferson Satterfield discriminated against the Ada Street tenant because of her race and familial status.
Requests for comment to Satterfield’s and the company’s attorneys sent Wednesday morning and afternoon have not yet been responded to. The tenant did not respond to a text message seeking comment.
The OCRC is a state agency, with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office serving as its legal counsel. Last year, the woman filed a complaint with the commission, which investigated and found it was “probable” that the company “had engaged in unlawful discriminatory practices.” After “informal methods” to address the issue weren’t successful, the OCRC took the case to court.
Landlord allegedly texts ‘offensive’ and ‘derogatory’ remarks
Jefferson, the complaint states, sent text messages to the woman that “reflected his animus” toward the tenant, who was renting with the help of a voucher program through the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority.
The voucher program allows participants to transfer the assistance to another housing provider if the tenant submits a qualifying “request-to-move” form and the current property owner signs off on it. When the woman asked Satterfield to sign the form after three and a half years of living there, Satterfield refused and explained why in a text message: “simply because your black.”
When the woman “made her intent to move clear, Satterfield threatened to call the children services board,” the complaint states, and threatened to contact AMHA to attempt to have her rental assistance canceled.
He called her sexist names,“moron” and “life loser,” among other things, the complaint states.
The OCRC also said Satterfield made “insulting and derogatory comments” to the woman “about her children based on racial stereotypes.”
In an administrative complaint filed in November, the OCRC reported Satterfield sent her the following message: “my son is college educated, your kid won’t graduate high school because they are losers, you are a crappy mother, your kid is an idiot, Society will take care of him, I predict he will either impregnate a girl or end up in prison doing hard time for selling drugs or something that, he isn’t a scholar that’s for sure.”
The woman reported Satterfield’s comments to the AMHA last year. The agency released her for the lease and she moved out last June.
The OCRC action in the common pleas court seeks:
- A judgment that the company committed unlawful discriminatory practices
- An injunction preventing the company from engaging in unlawful discriminatory practices
- An order requiring the defendants to pay the woman compensatory damages for suffering harm because of unlawful behavior and to pay punitive damages to the woman as punishment for serious misconduct.
- An order requiring the defendants to pay attorney fees and court costs.
How to get help
Visit this link to learn more about filing a complaint with the OCRC. The commission investigates discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodation, disability in higher education and credit. The “bases” of discrimination include race, color, sex, disability, age, religion, national origin, ancestry, familial status in housing, military status, marital status, and retaliation.
In the City of Akron, contact the Housing Compliance Division by calling 330-375-2366, calling 311 or visiting its website. The division works to assure decent, safe and sanitary living conditions for residents through the enforcement of the Environmental Health Housing Code.
Summit County Public Health can help with interior and exterior housing complaints related to issues like trash accumulation, water infiltration issues, pest infestations, lack of proper utilities and structural issues. SCPH investigates these types of complaints in all communities surrounding the City of Akron. Call 330-926-5600 with any comments, complaints or questions.
Other resources:
• Fair Housing Contact Service in Akron
• Community Legal Aid
