Religious discrimination lawsuit wilting
Brookelynn Jacobson, 8, feeds a carrot to Dolly the camel in 2014 as the animal’s handler, Jeannene Christ, looks on outside Jeremy Morris’ Hayden home on Cardinal Drive. Morris purchased a home on Ferndale Drive in Hayden in 2015, and his holiday decorations at that address are at the center of a lawsuit Morris filed against the West Hayden Estates Homeowners Association. Morris alleges the HOA is engaging in religious discrimination and violating the Fair Housing Act by not allowing him to decorate his home as he did on Cardinal Drive, with thousands of lights and live animals tha…
COEUR d’ALENE — An attorney for a Hayden homeowners group is asking for a portion of a much publicized lawsuit against West Hayden Estates subdivision to be dismissed for lack of evidence.
A U.S. District Court judge dismissed in August a part of the case filed a year ago by Jeremy Morris against West Hayden Estates Homeowners Association.
In a motion for summary judgment filed earlier this month, Boise attorney Brindee Collins, who represents the HOA, is asking that the remainder of the suit be dismissed.
“The Association has provided affirmative evidence that its decisions in regards to the Morrises and their program had a nondiscriminatory basis ... and that the Board acted reasonably within its authority...,” Collins wrote in a memorandum to the court.
When Morris filed the suit in January 2017 asking for $250,000 to compensate for his family’s “shock, humiliation, embarrassment, inconvenience, and economic loss,” he alleged being the target of religious discrimination by neighbors who wanted him to scrap his five-day outdoor Christmas program.
The Christmas event at the Ferndale Drive home Morris purchased in 2015 in the subdivision north of Lancaster Road has in the past drawn thousands of onlookers and participants. Many arrive in commercial shuttle buses and several thousand people visit the display.
In his lawsuit, Morris accused the homeowners association of attempting to stymie his right to have the Christmas event, which he says is a fundraiser for sick children.
The event includes 200,000 Christmas lights, live farm animals and a camel as well as dozens of live Christmas characters.
It was canceled last month in the wake of the pending suit.
Morris filed the suit in U.S. District Court against provisions of the Fair Housing Act, as well as the Human Rights Act on the basis of religious discrimination.
He said he contacted the homeowners association before moving to the neighborhood and the HOA urged him to not have the program because it was against covenants, conditions and restrictions, and might offend non-Christians. He opted to purchase the property anyway and have the Christmas program.
The Human Rights Act claim was dismissed in August by U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill, who earlier this month also tossed out a claim by Morris refuting the HOA’s claims that he had violated its covenants, conditions and restrictions.
The CCRs require homeowners to have written consent before decorating the exterior of their homes, using their property for nonresidential purposes, creating a nuisance because of excessive noise and traffic, putting up signs without HOA approval, not storing away Christmas decorations in the off-season, creating unsafe traffic conditions and having excessively bright lights, according to court documents.
In his initial complaint, Morris claimed that during the five-day event, which operated in 2015 and 2016, HOA members harassed him and participants by “throwing snowballs at buses, pretending to be hit by a bus while ‘fake-plowing’ the road at 8 p.m. without the plow running, boarding a bus and yelling at riders, and trespassing,” according to the suit.
He further argued that others in the HOA routinely violate terms of their agreements by having too many pets, and that, in the past, “football parties” also disrupted traffic in the estates.
In her Jan. 5 memorandum, Collins argues that having denied Morris’ counterclaim, the court should also dismiss the remainder of the suit including Morris’ claims of discrimination under the Fair Housing Act. “(Morris) has provided no admissible material evidence that indicates they were discriminated against,” according to her memorandum.
On behalf of the HOA, Collins is also asking the court to award attorney fees to the defendant.
Morris said he will file a response to the HOA’s request for summary judgment within two weeks, and said he felt confident the case will go to jury trial.
“We fully anticipate this case will be in front of a jury in May or June,” Morris said.
On his Facebook page, Morris is asking people who attended past Christmas events at his West Hayden Estates property to show their support by writing letters that can be used in court.