Cedar Creek Lake couple say they were pressured by DOJ to accept mediated settlement rather than take case to trial to set legal precedent
HOME SWEET HOME | Roxann Joganik, left, and Darlina Anthony at home in Seven Points where they moved their RV after the were given two hours to vacate a mobile home park in Athens because Joganik is trans. (Dallas Voice/David Taffet)
A transgender woman and her partner have settled a lawsuit alleging unfair housing practices by an Athens RV park owner.
The Cedar Creek Lake-area couple say they are not happy with the settlement and that the Department of Justice pressured them to accept $4,000 to settle the suit.
The case was based on an Obama Administration interpretation of nondiscrimination law that includes the transgender community in the definition of gender discrimination.
Roxann Joganik and her partner, Darlina Anthony, charged that when George Toone took over the RV park they lived in, he evicted them because of Joganik’s gender identity.
“The Department of Justice let down every transgender person across the U.S.,” Joganik said.
Had it gone to trial, the case could have established the legal precedent that transgender falls under the category of gender discrimination, she said.
Last fall, the Department of Housing and Urban Development filed a lawsuit on behalf of Joganik and Anthony. The suit alleged that prohibiting someone from dressing as a female in the park violates federal fair housing laws.
The lease for the pad in the RV park and park rules did not include protections against sex discrimination.
Toone told Joganik he did not want her to wear female clothing in the park because there are children around the pool and it is “not the type of atmosphere we want to promote on private property.” In its suit, HUD said Toone’s statement indicated he would rather not have transgender persons in the common areas of the park. HUD called that illegal.
Joganik praised HUD’s suit, but said once the Department of Justice became involved, things went down hill.
“The attorney was not sensitive to my gender identity,” Joganik said.
She said although her name has been legally changed and gender changed on her social security, insurance and other papers, the attorney called her “sir.”
“She said that I threatened her when I didn’t and went so far as to call me a terrorist,” Joganik said.
The court required the two sides to go to mediation. A trial was scheduled for later in the year if the negotiations failed, but Joganik said the Department of Justice attorney told her they would drop the case if she didn’t accept the settlement.
The settlement only covers actual damages. When given two hours to vacate the property, Anthony said they had to replace tires on their mobile home. Her TV and other unsecured items were damaged as a result of the quick move.
In the settlement, Toone denies all allegations, but paid the amount of damages. He maintains he complied with state and federal law, but he was required to add gender discrimination as a category in the park rules and in his lease. He will not be monitored by DOJ for compliance.
Anthony and Joganik said they could have filed separate cases and that Anthony had a stronger case had she filed alone. But the Department of Justice refused to separate the claims, Joganik said. The $4,000 broke down as $1,000 for Anthony and $3,000 for Joganik.
“Once again, women are treated unfairly,” Anthony said.
She said she had more actual damages than Joganik.
The settlement stipulates Joganik and Anthony can say nothing about Toone, and they only confirmed he paid the negotiated settlement.
Joganik praised the work HUD did on their behalf, but said she is moving forward by filing a complaint against the Department of Justice. She said DOJ let down the entire trans community.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition August 1, 2014.