Lexington Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission v. Leslie Whaley

CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedJune 16, 2022
Docket2020 CA 001465
StatusUnknown

This text of Lexington Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission v. Leslie Whaley (Lexington Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission v. Leslie Whaley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lexington Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission v. Leslie Whaley, (Ky. Ct. App. 2022).

Opinion

RENDERED: JUNE 17, 2022; 10:00 A.M. NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

Commonwealth of Kentucky Court of Appeals

NO. 2020-CA-1465-MR

LEXINGTON FAYETTE URBAN COUNTY HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION AND RAYMOND SEXTON APPELLANTS

APPEAL FROM FAYETTE CIRCUIT COURT v. HONORABLE KIMBERLY N. BUNNELL, JUDGE ACTION NO. 15-CI-02497

LESLIE WHALEY APPELLEE

AND

NO. 2020-CA-1537-MR

LESLIE WHALEY CROSS-APPELLANT

CROSS-APPEAL FROM FAYETTE CIRCUIT COURT v. HONORABLE KIMBERLY N. BUNNELL, JUDGE ACTION NO. 15-CI-02497

LEXINGTON FAYETTE URBAN COUNTY HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION ON BEHALF OF ASHLEY BRADFORD; AND RAYMOND SEXTON, INDIVIDUALLY AND IN HIS CAPACITY AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, LEXINGTON-FAYETTE URBAN COUNTY HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION APPELLEES

OPINION AFFIRMING

** ** ** ** **

BEFORE: DIXON, JONES, AND K. THOMPSON, JUDGES.

DIXON, JUDGE: The Lexington Fayette Urban County Human Rights

Commission (“the Commission”) and Raymond Sexton appeal, and Leslie Whaley

cross-appeals, from the order of the Fayette Circuit Court entered November 10,

2020. Following a careful review of the record, briefs, and law, we affirm.

BACKGROUND FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

This case was previously on appeal in Lexington-Fayette Urban

County Human Rights Commission v. Whaley, No. 2017-CA-001349-MR, 2019

WL 3246496 (Ky. App. Jul. 19, 2019). We adopt the following statement of facts

herein:

[The Commission], on behalf of Ashley Bradford, filed a notice of appeal from the judgment of the Fayette Circuit Court dismissing its claims against Leslie Whaley pursuant to the provisions of Kentucky Rule of Civil Procedure (CR) 37.02. Whaley filed a notice of cross-

-2- appeal. Several months later, Whaley filed a separate notice of appeal of the court’s judgment as modified. After our review, we dismiss the appeals and cross- appeal.

Despite our summary resolution of these appeals and cross-appeal, a recitation of the lengthy, convoluted, and acrimonious procedural history of this matter is necessary. Ashley Bradford (Bradford), a resident of Malabu Terrace Condominiums alleged discrimination on the part of: Malabu Terrace Condominiums, (Malabu Terrace); Scott Lyons (president of the Malabu Terrace Condominiums Homeowners Association); and Leslie Whaley (owner of a Malabu Terrace condominium leased to Ashley Bradford). Bradford claimed that they unlawfully discriminated against her and her three minor children based upon familial status, thereby violating a local ordinance and the provisions of Kentucky’s Civil Rights Act codified at [Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS)] 344.010, et seq.

On May 19, 2005, the Commission found probable cause to indicate that Malabu Terrace, Lyons, and Whaley did indeed discriminate as Bradford had alleged. Specifically, the Commission found that Malabu Terrace, Lyons and Whaley unlawfully discriminated against Bradford and the children “by requiring [Bradford] to supervise her children when outside at all times, giving her constant complaints about the noise level and behavior of her children and placing rules that forbid riding bicycles on the property.” However, the Commission found no probable cause to support Bradford’s allegation that she had been denied a reasonable accommodation based upon her minor child’s disability. Malabu Terrace, Lyons, and Whaley vehemently denied the allegation of any unlawful discrimination.

On July 7, 2015, the Commission filed an action in Fayette Circuit Court against Malabu Terrace, Lyons, and

-3- Whaley. The Commission alleged that Bradford had been “subject to harassment because of her children”; that the children had not been “allowed outside the apartment to play or allowed to be in common areas of the condominium complex”; that Bradford had been denied use of a parking space set aside for the disabled “despite authorization”; and that Bradford had suffered embarrassment and humiliation as a result. The Commission sought imposition of a civil penalty, attorney fees, and costs. By order entered by the Fayette Circuit Court on October 24, 2016, the claims against Malabu Terrace and Scott Lyons were dismissed.

Whaley responded to the complaint with a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. In her memorandum in support of the motion, Whaley explained that she had rented her condominium at Malabu Terrace to Bradford (a single parent of three children, including a child with a disability) and that about five months after executing the lease and with rent outstanding, Bradford lodged a charge of discrimination against her. She argued that even if all of Bradford’s allegations were true, Bradford would not be entitled to judgment because Whaley was not in control of the areas in which Bradford alleged she had suffered the alleged unlawful familial discrimination. Additionally, Whaley observed that the Commission made a finding of “no probable cause” with respect to Bradford’s allegation that she had been the subject of unlawful discrimination based upon her son’s disability.

On July 30, 2015, Whaley sent Bradford a notice to vacate the property within 7 days based upon non- payment of rent. Whaley sent a separate notice to Bradford advising that her lease would not be renewed upon the expiration of the term (September 30, 2015). The Commission immediately filed a motion for injunctive relief, contending that the eviction was retaliatory. In response, Whaley explained that Bradford had not paid rent since June 2015 and that she had been late with rent payments on 6 previous occasions.

-4- Bradford moved out of the condominium in October 2015, and the Commission withdrew the motion for relief. A year after the Commission’s finding of probable cause, Whaley filed an action in the small claims division of the Fayette District Court to recover three-months’ rent.

Additionally, on November 3, 2016, Whaley filed a counterclaim against the Commission and a third-party complaint against Bradford and Raymond Sexton, individually, and in his capacity as executive director of the Commission. Whaley alleged that she had been fully aware of Bradford’s familial status when she decided to rent the Malabu Terrace condominium to Bradford; that Bradford had advised Whaley after she moved into the condominium that multiple neighbors appeared to be upset with her; that Lyons, the president of the Malabu Terrace homeowners’ association, had alerted Whaley that Bradford’s children left bicycles in the middle of the walkway, broke a common-area light fixture, and were permitted to run up and down the common stairs very loudly, disturbing other residents. Whaley also alleged that Bradford filed a complaint against her with the Commission only after Bradford began to have difficulty making her rent payments; that the Commission violated the provisions of the Kentucky Civil Rights Act by failing to conduct a timely investigation; that the Commission’s investigator, Marjorie Gonzalez, conducted a patently unfair investigation; that Gonzalez determined that there was probable cause to believe that Whaley had unlawfully discriminated against Bradford without any evidence to support the allegation; and that Sexton approved the determination by Gonzalez despite the lack of evidence.

Whaley sought an order enjoining the Commission from acting outside its authority; an order enjoining Sexton from further retaliatory conduct; reimbursement of attorney fees, costs, and expenses associated with her defense of the unsupported action against her; damages

-5- incurred as a result of Bradford’s breach of the lease agreement and her destruction of the condominium property.

The Commission filed a motion to dismiss Whaley’s counterclaim and third-party complaint. On December 2, 2016, the trial court denied the motion.

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Lexington Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission v. Leslie Whaley, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lexington-fayette-urban-county-human-rights-commission-v-leslie-whaley-kyctapp-2022.