On January 21, 2025, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a unanimous order affirming ECBAWM’s 2023 win in the Southern District of New York against Pelican Management Company operating as Goldfarb Properties, a landlord with approximately 6,000 apartments in New York City and Westchester County. ECBAWM’s client, the Fair Housing Justice Center (FHJC), first documented Goldfarb’s discriminatory rental policies with an undercover testing investigation eight years ago after receiving a complaint from Alfred Spooner, a homeless man with disabilities whose application to rent from Goldfarb was rejected even though he had a housing voucher. ECBAWM secured a settlement for Mr. Spooner and then litigated the case through a bench trial for FHJC.

In 2023, ECBAWM secured a groundbreaking court decision ordering Goldfarb Properties to halt its discriminatory practices. In addition to ordering compensatory and punitive damages for FHJC, District Court Judge Edgardo Ramos issued a detailed five-year injunction requiring Goldfarb Properties not to apply minimum income requirements to applicants with rental vouchers, not to impose minimum waiting periods for rejected applicants to reapply, and to take affirmative steps to prevent future discrimination such as adopting written anti-discrimination policies and providing training for its employees.

The Second Circuit found Goldfarb’s arguments on appeal to be “without merit” and affirmed the District Court’s 2023 decision. As ECBAWM Partner Diane L. Houk reflected on the case, she noted that “when we first met Mr. Spooner, he was living in a New York City shelter while he received chemotherapy treatments because Goldfarb Properties refused to accept his housing voucher. No one should have to endure what he did. We hope this court order prevents others with vouchers like Mr. Spooner from being denied housing they are otherwise qualified to rent.”

The Fair Housing Justice Center is represented by ECBAWM attorneys Diane L. Houk and Sonya Levitova and paralegal Toby Shore.