Racist landlords discriminate against couple over newborn baby
A tribunal has found a pair of racist landlords discriminated against a pregnant couple when they threatened to evict them over their newborn baby.
The owners of the property told the couple they would be evicted if they brought the baby home.
They described the child as an “authorised occupant”.
Racist landlords discriminate against couple
Tenants Jackson Gitau and Rose Ng’ang’a filed a race discrimination and pregnancy discrimination claim in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT).
The couple accused their landlords, David Walsh and Leachia Boles, of waging a months-long harassment campaign.
This involved “surveillance, obstructing access in addition to humiliating and offensive language”.
Some of the vile comments involved Mr Walsh and Ms Boles describing Mr Gitau as “a monkey” and a “bush n***a”.
Mr Gitau and Ms Ng’ang’a are from Kenya. Their unit was one of six converted from a suburban house in North Brisbane.
Mr Walsh and Ms Boles both jointly own the block.
Early termination of lease
On December 20, 2019, Ms Ng’ang’a emailed Mr Walsh notifying him of her pregnancy.
She asked for permission to break their lease as the couple needed a larger home for their baby.
Mr Gitau and Ms Ng’ang’a had a fixed-term tenancy with a company owned by Mr Walsh, which began on June 11, 2019.
Mr Walsh agreed to the termination of the lease once a new tenant was found, but no-one was found in time.
The couple’s baby was due on May 5, 2020 – six weeks before the end of the tenancy.
The landlords told the couple their newborn baby was not an authorised tenant and subsequently issued a notice to leave.
Child not authorised to be on premises
On March 27, 2020, Mr Walsh emailed Mr Gitau stating the pair’s lease only authorised them as tenants.
“Your child, once born, is not authorised to be at the premises,” he wrote.
The landlords issued a notice to leave without grounds the next day.
In another email sent days later Mr Walsh said:
“Please inform me as to your intentions as bringing a child to reside at the premises is a serious breach of your lease that will result in my instigating eviction proceedings.”
QCAT find racist landlords discriminate against couple
QCAT Member Jeremy Gordon found Mr Walsh had discriminated against the couple on the basis of their pregnancy by sending these emails.
He also found the landlords had waged a campaign of harassment against the pregnant couple leading up to their child’s birth.
Mr Gordon found this was “strongly influenced” by Ms Boles’ mistrust of the tenants because of their race.
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Campaign of harassment
This campaign included sending multiple breach notices for erroneous things like throwing water off the balcony, bin collection and visits by an NBN contractor.
Mr Gitau told QCAT Mr Walsh called him a “piece of s**t” and a “monkey” while Ms Boles had called him a “bush n***a” on various dates.
Ms Ng’ang’a said Ms Boles filmed her on several occasions, including her return from hospital – something Mr Gordon described as “not justified at all”.
Shockingly, Ms Boles – who describes herself as an “American N***o from Alabama” – told QCAT she had a “mistrust and dislike of African men”.
She also claimed the couple had acted with “pernicious racism” towards her.
This manifested in a mistrust of the tenants because they were from Kenya.
“She believes her views state the truth,” Mr Gordon said.
“It can be seen she holds deeply held prejudices against, and stereotypical views about African people, and African men in particular.”
QCAT will determine a remedy to Mr Gitau and Ms Ng’ang’a on a later date.
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