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ACLU Files Federal Fair Housing Lawsuit on Behalf of Port Richey
Foster Family
October 22, 2002
TAMPA -- Acting on behalf of foster parents Steven and Corinna Gourlay, the Tampa Chapter of American Civil Liberties Union of Florida today filed a federal lawsuit against their homeowner's association for discriminating against them on the basis of family status.
The lawsuit was filed against the Forest Lake Estates Civic Association of Port Richey, Inc. and its vice-president Walter A. Lucas. The homeowners' association sued the Gourlays, who are foster parents to five foster children, for allegedly violating the deed restriction limiting Forest Lake Estates to single family residences. They claimed that foster children are not part of a "family."
The federal action filed by the ACLU claims that the homeowner's association's actions violate the federal Fair Housing Act by discriminating against the Gourlays on the basis of familial status.
The ACLU brought the suit on behalf of the Gourlays to ensure that Florida's foster families are treated with the same respect and given the same legal protection as biological families.
The Gourlays are represented by their ACLU cooperating attorneys Paul Rebein and Matthew Moore of Shook, Hardy & Bacon, L.L.P.
