Photo: Getty Images
Two families have been awarded $750,000 after facing racial discrimination from the owner of a campground in Virginia, per NBC News.
The case stemmed from a joint family camping trip taken by friends Amanda Mills and Angela Smith at Lazy Cove Campground in June 2020. Smith, who is white, had also brought her husband, Damien Smith, who is Black, and their eight-year-old son on the camping trip.
During the getaway, the families got a call from the campground's owner, Regina Turner, who told Mills "You didn’t tell me that your friend’s husband is Black," according to a complaint filed with the Virginia Fair Housing Board.
“Had I known, I wouldn’t have rented the lot to them. I saw the son, but I figured everyone makes a mistake,” Turner allegedly said.
Turner also told another campground tenant that she would wait until their lease ended rather than evicting the family to avoid legal action, court documents state.
“I can’t make them move now because if I give both of them moving notices now, they could take my park from me. I’m smart, you know, and I’ve got to use my head,” Turner allegedly said.
The Virginia Attorney General's Office and the Virginia Fair Housing Board filed a civil suit against Turner on one count of refusing to rent and two counts of discrimination, resulting in the families' being awarded $100,000 each.
A jury also awarded the group $550,000 in punitive damages.
“It was like a sigh of relief, but at the same time, I’m still angry because we never should have had to go through this,” Damien said in a statement. “It was 2020 at the time, and somehow we’re still getting judged by the color of our skin versus the kind of person we are.”
Turner's legal team has filed a motion to set aside the jury's verdict. The campground owner said she never evicted the families, but she did feel "betrayed" that Mills didn't inform her that Damien was Black.
The Black Information Network is your source for Black News! Get the latest news 24/7 on The Black Information Network. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app or click HERE to tune in live.