The showing of the apartment and the giving of the application show discrimination and differences of treatment in violation of the Chicago Fair Housing Ordinance. See Gould , Supra . Mr. and Mrs. Ziman were not involved directly in the discriminatory events and disparate treatment. They, in fact, maintain a policy of not discriminating against minorities in apartment rentals and had rented apartments to black and other minority people both before and after these events. Indeed, their policy included showing apartments to everybody regardless of race.
Liability exists even where the agent is in violation of express policies of the building owner.
Thus, Mr. and Mrs. Ziman are liable in this case for the acts of their agents. Once Complainant has established a prima facie case, the burden falls on Respondents to provide credible evidence that establishes a non-discriminatory reason for the treatment of Complainant. Gould , Fulgern . Even if credible evidence is provided, Complainant can still prevail by proving that Respondent's explanation and evidence are unconvincing or pretextual. In this case, Respondents' main defense is that no one bedroom apartment was available for rent.