A Denver building owner has to pay roughly 675-thousand dollars after refusing to rent available space to people who were Muslim. That’s the settlement agreed to after she was threatened with a lawsuit for religious discrimination. The woman was even recorded saying she only wanted to rent to Americans.
Rashad Khan says the Capitol Hill neighborhood is home and he’s lived there since 2008. He and his dad run the Curry & Kabob restaurant in Boulder. When he saw the available space in his neighborhood they decided they wanted to expand. Problem is the property owner Katina Gatchis didn’t like the idea when asked by the current tenant who wanted to add a name to the lease. That tenant recorded the conversation which can be heard in the audio, “American person. You need an American person? American person I need.” Gatchis went on to say, “These of kind type, they are very dangerous, extremely dangerous.”
Khan, his father and the tenant sued Gatchis for discrimination. Gatchis agreed to settle and now has to pay over a half-a-million dollars as a result. Khan says the settlement sends a strong message.
