Carvajal & Nielsen, Mfhc File Discrimination Suit against Diocese of Worcester

Carvajal & Nielsen
September 10, 2012

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/AbuseTrackerArchive/2012/09/#071962

[House of Affirmation - BishopAccountability.org]

Suit Cites Church’s Refusal to Sell Based On Buyers’ Sexual Orientation

WORCESTER, Mass., Sept. 10, 2012 – Carvajal & Nielsen, P.C. announced that the firm has filed a lawsuit today in Worcester Superior Court against the House of Affirmation, Inc., an affiliate of the Worcester Diocese, and others, claiming discrimination against clients James Fairbanks and Alain Beret of Sutton.

The Massachusetts Fair Housing Center (MHFC) is joining Carvajal & Nielsen in filing the suit.

Fairbanks and Beret had been negotiating for the purchase of Oakhurst, a 44-bedroom mansion in Northbridge, but the House of Affirmation, owner of the property, refused to sell the property to them after discovering that the two men are gay and married, and that they would allow gay marriages to take place at Oakhurst.

Defendants named in the suit include the Most Reverend Robert McManus, Bishop for the Worcester Diocese; the Reverend Monsignor Thomas J. Sullivan; the House of Affirmation; Eastern Alliance Realty, LLC of Shrewsbury, the agency for the sale, and its principals, LiSandra Rodriguez-Pagan and Angel L. Pagan.

The four-count suit charges the defendants with discrimination in violation of Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 151B, based on their sexual orientation. It seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, compensation for attorneys’ fees and costs, “and any other relief this court deems just and equitable” in a trial by jury.

“Discriminating against a person who is gay is no different than discriminating against a person who is black, Latino, Jewish or female,” Attorney Sergio E. Carvajal, principal of Carvajal & Nielsen, said. “It is wrong and it is illegal.”

While the two men negotiated in good faith, invested thousands of dollars for inspections and even made a $75,000 deposit with their offer to purchase, the Diocese of Worcester pulled out, claiming a change in plans for the property.

However, a thread of e-mails from the diocese’s broker included the following e-mail from Monsignor Sullivan: "I just went down the hall and discussed it with the bishop. Because of the potentiality of gay marriages there, something you shared with us yesterday, we are not interested in going forward with these buyers. I think they're shaky anyway. So, just tell them that we will not accept their revised plan and the Diocese is making new plans for the property. You find the language."

Monsignor Sullivan told Fox TV that plans changed because “the loan that they had attempted to get from the bank had failed them” and he told the Telegram & Gazette that the diocese withdrew from the sale because Fairbanks and Beret “couldn’t come up with the money.”

Those statements were made even though Fairbanks and Beret had not yet applied for a loan, because the deal was still being negotiated.

“Monsignor Sullivan’s public statement that the deal fell through because of a lack of financing is false, and damaging to the reputation of our clients,” according to Attorney Arose W. Nielsen, principal of Carvajal & Nielsen. “James and Alain are experienced businessmen with the financial means to purchase the property, and their proposal for the rehabilitation of Oakhurst has been enthusiastically welcomed by town officials.”

Yet the Diocese of Worcester, which formerly used the property as a home for priests who are pedophiles, “appears to have pulled out of the deal because of our clients' sexual orientation,” Carvajal said. “The law prohibits discrimination on this basis.”

“To date, the Diocese of Worcester has not even apologized to James and Alain,” Nielsen said. “The action by the diocese is not only a setback for our clients and for the town of Northbridge. It is a setback for civil rights in Massachusetts.”