A District-based anti-discrimination group filed two federal lawsuits Thursday against developers it claims have skimped on legally required handicapped-accessibility measures in projects nationwide.
The Equal Rights Center is suing Camden Property Trust and Lion Gables Residential Trust in U.S. District court in Greenbelt over alleged violations of the Fair Housing Act and Americans with Disabilities Act. Of the 64 properties named in the lawsuit, nine are in Virginia, seven are in Maryland and four are in the District.
They include Camden Russett, a 426-unit housing complex in Rockville; and Gables Woodley Park, a 211-unit high rise in the District. Most of the violations, according to copies of the complaints, center on insufficient access for wheelchair users.
The suits follow an investigation by the Equal Rights Center in which the groupsent testers to apartment and condo units built by the two firms, the group said Thursday. That investigation revealed “a pattern and practice of building multifamily housing” that violated the two laws, said Donald L. Kahl, senior council for the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, which is representing the center.
He said the group has taken similar looks at other developers.
“Unfortunately, their investigations have shown that the industry is not complying on a fairly widespread basis,” Kahl said. “The Equal Rights Center certainly has as one of its goal here to cause the design and construction industry … to realize that the requirements of accessibility for persons with disability is a very important aspect about building housing in our communities.”
Lion Gables is based in Atlanta; Camden Property Trust in Houston. Neither returned calls for comment Thursday.
The Equal Rights Center recently won a $2.2 million settlement with Metro over flaws in the agency’s MetroAcess service. Metro agreed to provide 10 free rides to all MetroAcess riders, $5,000 to each of the 14 customers named in the suit and $65,000 to the Equal Rights Center, as well as other damages and attorneys’ fees.
