‘Egregiously retaliating against her for the exercise of her rights’
By Bob Unruh
(Photo by Joe Kovacs)
A disabled woman living in a senior center now is facing eviction – as the housing-unit operator “retaliates” against her for her decision to share Gospel tracts with others in the facility in a common area where information about opportunities and events routinely is available.
It is the American Center for Law and Justice that confirmed it is “taking action,” specifically sending demand letters, to protect the elderly Christian woman.
The woman had been forbidden from placing Bible tracts on a community table because building managers insisted they wanted to be “inclusive.”
The landlord, Lindy Property Management Co. in Philadelphia now is “egregiously retaliating against our client for the exercise of her rights.”
The legal team said it sought from the management company assurances that “her religious liberty rights be protected and that she be allowed to exercise the privileges that every member of the housing complex has and not be singled out for her religious faith.”
The ACLJ explained, “In every other circumstance where we have been helping other residents of senior living facilities, the facility has responded by acknowledging our clients’ rights and agreeing to change its conduct. At first, we thought that would occur here. Soon after sending our demand letter, we received a call on Monday, June 3, from Lindy’s lawyer saying that our client could exercise her rights again and freely share her tracts.”
But the next day, the client, Jocelyn Harris, was ordered evicted.