Helen Smith and Herman Smith v. Tianna Stechel

The plaintiffs in this civil rights action appeal from a judgment of the district court dismissing the action. Their complaint, which was filed on December 7, 1971, alleged that they were hired by appellee Grubb & Ellis, as agent for appellee Stechel, to manage an apartment complex of seventy-three units located in Oakland, California, and owned by Stechel; that they were fired on September 10, 1970, by appellee Price, an employee of Grubb & Ellis, for renting apartments to blacks and Mexican-Americans. They asserted that this constituted a violation of rights granted, among other sections, by 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1982, and §§ 810, 812, and 817 of Title VIII of the 1968 Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 3610 , 3612, and 3617, with jurisdiction conferred by 28 U.S.C. § 1343 (4).

The district court ruled that the allegations were insufficient to state a claim of violation of rights conferred by §§ 1981 or 1982, and that any rights bestowed by Title VIII were barred by limitation. Both rulings are assigned as error. We hold that the court erred in holding the claim under Title VIII barred by limitation. Accordingly, we do not reach the questions presented by the ruling as to…