Judge won't dismiss lawsuit against Boca community alleging religious discrimination
A Christian couple is claiming they were discriminated against in a predominantly Jewish development

Article Courtesy of  The Palm Beach Post

By Mike Diamond

Published January 29, 2021

  

A federal judge has declined to dismiss a lawsuit against Seven Bridges that alleges the homeowner association failed to protect a Christian family from religious discrimination.
    

The lawsuit has rocked the predominantly Jewish community on Lyons Road west of Boca Raton. A dispute between two women spawned the lawsuit, with one woman allegedly telling the other that she should move because she was not Jewish.

At issue is whether the Fair Housing Act required the HOA to intervene and protect the family that was allegedly mistreated. Judge Donald Middlebrooks ruled that the lawsuit can proceed and that Jeffrey and Deborah LaGrasso, the alleged victims, can seek punitive damages of $7 million from the HOA. The LaGrassos also want the HOA to “de-annex” their house from the development.

The judge concluded that the LaGrassos have “plausibly alleged” violations of the Fair Housing Act. Middlebrooks made no conclusions about the merits of the case, noting that the bar is very high for him to dismiss a lawsuit. But he added that he “seriously questions” whether the LaGrassos’ allegations amount to religious discrimination. Nonetheless, he allowed the case to proceed because there is little, if any, case law on the subject.

The lawyer for the LaGrassos, Scott Weires, said there is considerable “circumstantial evidence” that will be presented to demonstrate that “religious motivation” was behind the conduct directed at the LaGrassos. He noted that the judge has yet to see all of the evidence that will be presented to a jury. Seven Bridges is a high-end family development consisting of 701 homes that sell for as much as $3 million.

Jeffrey and Deborah LaGrasso have filed a $7 million federal lawsuit against the homeowner association of the Seven Bridges development west of Boca Raton.


   
“The reason for the mistreatment was because they were not Jewish," Weires said. "They were treated differently from everyone else.” Calls seeking comment from the attorney for Seven Bridges were not returned.

In November 2019, the LaGrassos claim, a group of women harassed their children while taking tennis lessons because they were using too many courts. Deborah LaGrasso confronted the women, and the HOA claims she assaulted some of them. LaGrasso denied the charge, but the HOA blocked her from using any of the amenities at Seven Bridges for 90 days.

She then began posting what the HOA and other residents said were offensive messages about the community on an anonymous Facebook page she created. A resident, Rachel Tannenholz, identified LaGrasso as the page's administrator. In a taped phone conversation, Tannenholz allegedly told LaGrasso in May that she did not belong in a community that is 80% Jewish and that she should “move the f--- out” and go to “a white supremacist community.”

The LaGrassos complained to the HOA about the conduct of Tannenholz. The lawsuit claims nothing was done.

Instead of addressing the alleged offensive conduct of Tannenholz, the lawsuit says, the HOA issued another suspension to Deborah LaGrasso for 330 days and fined her $5,000 for Facebook posts it deemed offensive.

Middlebrooks said he was satisfied that “the LaGrassos have plausibly alleged a claim against the association for its failure to respond to or seek to control Ms. Tannenholz’s allegedly discriminatory conduct.”

But he questioned why the confrontation on the tennis court was part of the lawsuit, noting that there was no allegation that religious discrimination occurred in that incident. Tannenholz was not involved in the incident, either.

The lawsuit says Tannenholz went to the LaGrasso home in May, rang the doorbell repeatedly, banged on the front door and yelled for Deborah LaGrasso to come outside. After Tannenholz refused to leave, the police were called. Tannenholz was warned that if she returned, she would be arrested for trespassing.

The lawsuit also named Tannenholz as a defendant, but Middlebrooks dismissed the case against her for “lack of jurisdiction.”

Meanwhile, Tannenholz has filed a defamation lawsuit in Palm Beach County against Deborah LaGrasso for making offensive posts about her on the Facebook page. They included:

“Support Your Local Stripper” with a caption stating “Rachel’s GO FUND ME PAGE."

"OH MY those platform shoes are horrendous . . must be so hard to type and dance on the pole at the same time.!!!”

Tannenholz’s lawyer, Debra Klingsberg, said the evidence will show that the offensive texts that her client allegedly sent to LaGrasso were never made. Klingsberg said the phone conversation between the two women was illegally recorded since LaGrasso needed Tannenholz’s permission, which was never given.

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