Czech Republic: Romani situational tester of real estate discrimination appeals ruling for damages

News server iDNES.cz reports that Lenka Balogová, the Roman situational tester who sued a real estate office for discrimination, plans to appeal a recent verdict from a court in Litoměřice which did not award her compensation or coverage of her court costs for the discrimination she suffered. "I am only 50 % satisfied [with the judgment] because, as the judge explained, he did not accede to my two requests, and in my opinion that was not reasonable. The costs of the entire court proceeding are supposed to be paid by the losing party," Balogová told the news server.  

Last week the District Court in Litoměřice decided that real estate broker Eliška Nosková should apologize to Balogová for discriminating against her on the grounds of her ethnicity. According to Judge Jiří Šlapal, the recording of the conversation between Balogová and a representative of the real estate office proves she was discriminated against.  

The dispute began in 2013, when the office of the ombud, on the basis of complaints, tested real estate offices’ willingness to lease apartments to Romani people. The ombud collaborated on the project with the Counseling Center for Citizenship, Civil and Human Rights.

That NGO contracted with the ombud to test real estate offices’ approaches to Romani clients. Balogová then sued for non-pecuniary damages after being rejected on the basis of her ethnicity.