Trailer park settles anti-child bias case

MONROE, Mich. (AP) -- The U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday it has reached a settlement with a southeastern Michigan mobile home park it accused of discriminating against families with children. Operators of Shamrock Village Mobile Home Park repeatedly violated the law by barring families with more than one child from living at the park, the department said in a news release. "In today's economy, it is more important than ever that working families with children have the fair access to housing guaranteed by law" Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez said. A woman who answered the phone at the park Tuesday afternoon said operators weren't commenting. She wouldn't give her name. The Justice Department said its Civil Rights Division filed suit against the park. The deal requires a federal judge's approval. Under the settlement, the park's operators are to pay $27,500 in damages and civil penalties, including a fund for individuals who were hurt by the discrimination. The department said a family contacted the Fair Housing Center of Southeastern Michigan, a nonprofit group based in Ann Arbor, after Shamrock Village said it couldn't live there because the woman was expecting a second child. The center tested Shamrock Village and confirmed the discrimination, the Justice Department said. It said the family settled a separate lawsuit this year. Published: Thu, Jul 7, 2011