EAST ST. LOUIS – A disabled marine resident is suing Masinelli Management and Construction, alleging housing discrimination.
Plaintiff Mary Tomko filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois against defendants Russell Masinelli, John Masinelli, Masinelli Management and Construction, Inc. and Triton Enterprises, Corp., citing discrimination in violation of the Fair Housing Act on account of her status as a disabled person.
According to the lawsuit, Tomko, 60, resided at a rental property that was owned by Triton and managed by Masinelli Management and Construction. She claims she suffered from multiple physical and mental disabilities, including postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). She allegedly requires a wheelchair for mobility and assistance to complete daily activities.
The plaintiff claims that when she first moved into the property in the summer of 2017, she did not yet suffer from POTS and could move about freely without much difficulty. She also states that her original lease was subsidized by the USDA's Rural Development Program, which the defendants helped her apply for.
Tomko alleges that in early 2018, she suffered a stroke. After she returned from a rehabilitation facility, her POTS symptoms increased. She was also diagnosed with epilepsy, requiring her to use a wheelchair to get around.
Tomko alleges that in 2019, the defendants notified her that they would no longer subsidize her rent after Jan. 1, 2020.
The lawsuit states that in July 2020, Tomko's apartment caught on fire because of an air conditioning unit that overheated. She alleges a smoke detector failed, so she had no advance warning of the fire and a lip on the apartment door prevented her from escaping in her wheelchair. Tomko states that she only escaped injury because a fireman living nearby called 911 for her.
According to the lawsuit, the fire and smoke from the blaze damaged Tomko's apartment and belongings and also exacerbated her lung disease and caused her to develop PTSD. Additionally, her POTS symptoms and epilepsy worsened after the fire, forcing her to rely more on her manual wheelchair, which causes her to develop painful pressure sores.
Tomko's doctor prescribed an electric wheelchair for her, but she believes that the property will not be able to accommodate her much larger electric wheelchair.
Following the fire, Tomko has contacted the defendants to bring attention to the inaccessibility of the apartment in case of another fire and requested reasonable accommodations be made for her safety. She claims the defendants have ignored all requests for reasonable accommodations from Tomko, her brother, and a representative of IMPACT, a nonprofit organization in Alton that advocates for the independent living of disabled persons.
On Oct. 22, 2021, Tomko received a $25,000 grant from Equip for Equality, a federally funded program that supports the civil rights of disabled people, to fund modifications to her apartment that would enhance her safety, better accommodate an electric wheelchair and increase her quality of life. After the grant was finalized, representatives from the Illinois Department of Human Services and the Illinois Division of Rehabilitation Services contacted the defendants to obtain approval for the modifications, but the defendants refused to sign off on them without providing reasons and stated that Tomko should move to an assisted living unit.
In February, the building inspector of the Village of Marine contacted the defendants at the behest of Tomko to notify them that her bathroom was not ADA compliant, which the defendants allegedly also ignored.
On March 2022, the defendants allegedly notified Tomko that her rent was being increased from $351 to $400 per month starting in April, according to the lawsuit. The defendants also reportedly changed her yearly lease to a monthly lease. Tomko states that she believes these actions to be retaliatory and fears further retaliation by the defendants, including eviction.
Tomko states that she has suffered "physical injuries, pain and suffering, extreme emotional injury, humiliation, embarrassment, and inconvenience" because of the alleged discriminatory actions of the defendants and is demanding a trial by jury to seek relief. She is represented in this case by attorneys Thomas E. Kennedy, Sarah Jane Hunt and Nicole Matlock of Kennedy Hunt, P.C. and attorneys Susan M. Simone, Kendall Reeves and Danial Blair of Land of Lincoln Legal Aid.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois case number 3:22-CV-00702-JPG