Kentucky Commission on Human Rights v. Scott’s Property Management. Melissa Richardson and Zack Turpin successfully obtained a dismissal for their client, a property management service. Plaintiff filed a Complaint with the Human Right’s Commission on July 11, 2016, based on allegedly discriminatory housing practice that led to her wrongful eviction. KRS 344.625 requires the Commission to make a probable cause determination within one hundred days of the filing of a Complaint, “unless it is impracticable to make such a determination within that time frame.” The Commission reviewed the Complaint but did not determine that probable cause of a discriminatory housing practiced existed until more than three years after the Plaintiff made her grievance. Further, the Commission offered no explanation for the delay. The Commission filed suit on Plaintiff’s behalf in Kenton Circuit Court on May 21, 2019.
KRS Chapter 344, which governs civil rights actions, modifies the traditional one year statute of limitations applicable to personal injury claims, to two years from the date of “the occurrence or the termination of an alleged discriminatory housing practice.” Not included within this two years was the time the Plaintiff’s Complaint was pending a probable cause determination with the Commission. However, KRS 344.625 required the Commission make a probable cause determination within one hundred days of filing the Complaint, unless impracticable. Therefore, Defendant successfully argued that the Commission only had two years and one hundred days to file suit beginning on the date the discrimination terminated, since the Commission offered no proof that returning a probable cause determination within one hundred days was impracticable. Additionally, the Defendant successfully argued the Commission was not an “aggrieved person” under KRS 344.650, and therefore, any suit filed by the Commission on the Plaintiff’s behalf would be subject to the one year statute of limitations applicable to traditional tort claims.