Sean Young of the ACLU of Georgia (left) and Kalpana Kotagal of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll (Courtesy photo)

The ACLU of Georgia has teamed up with Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll to sue a northwest Georgia couple who allegedly evicted a white tenant because she invited an African American woman into her rental home.

The suit, filed Wednesday on behalf of Victoria Sutton, contends that Gordon County landlords Patricia and Allen McCoy used racial epithets and threats—some of which Sutton recorded—when they evicted Sutton from a residence she rented from the couple in Adairsville. Sutton and her family were evicted in December 2018—about three months after she began inviting an African American co-worker with a 5-year-old son over for playdates with Sutton's two daughters, ages 2 and 9, the suit alleges.

ACLU of Georgia lawyers Sean Young and Kosha Tucker, and Kalpana Kotagal and Brian Corman of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll are representing Sutton.

Young, the ACLU of Georgia's legal director, was named The Daily Report's Attorney of the Year in June for his work in 2018 on election litigation. Last year, Kotagal helped write the language of an inclusion rider intended to boost diversity in Hollywood that actress Frances McDormand urged her fellow stars to push for in 2018.

The McCoys could not be located for comment, and an attorney has not yet filed an appearance on their behalf.

Sutton's eviction violates federal fair housing and civil rights laws, according to the suit.

The eviction began after Sutton was seeing hugging her co-worker as she was leaving, the complaint alleges. Later that day, Allen McCoy dropped by and, after uttering a racial epithet suggesting that Sutton was too friendly with a black woman, gave her two weeks to move out, the complaint alleges.

McCoy allegedly warned Sutton she should be “ashamed of herself,” and threatened to call Child Protective Services because she had invited an African American onto the property, the complaint said.

Employing another racial epithet, McCoy allegedly warned Sutton he would call the police and have her co-worker arrested if she came onto the property again, the lawsuit claims. McCoy also allegedly claimed he evicted a previous tenant after that woman invited an African American man to move in, according to the suit.

The suit also claims McCoy's wife later backed her husband up in a conversation laced with racial slurs. During that conversation, which Sutton recorded, Patricia McCoay allegedly warned, “You ain't got no rights on the property…. Maybe you like black dogs, but I don't. So just get your stuff and get out.”

Sutton was forced to seek alternative housing for her family, which also included the father of her youngest child and a 19-year-old niece. She eventually was forced to move outside the school district, depriving one daughter with special needs of specialized education services, the suit contends.

Sutton is seeking unspecified compensatory damages, punitive damages, and legal fees associated with her eviction and forced move.

Young, the legal director of the ACLU of Georgia, called Sutton's treatment “blatant racial discrimination.”

Said Corman: “This case is a clear reminder that the pervasive and insidious racism that lead to the passage of the Fair Housing Act more than fifty years ago persists to this day. America thrives when people of all races and backgrounds are able to live in their communities without fear that they will be thrown out of their homes because of their race or the race of those with whom they associate.”

Read the lawsuit:

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