The vice president of the Connecticut Tenants Union (CTTU) went to court on Thursday to testify before a judge about his experience fighting a landlord’s alleged retaliatory tactics against organizers and renters looking to form a union at a Quinnipiac Meadows apartment complex.
Luke Melonakos presented that testimony in New Haven’s third-floor housing court at 121 Elm St. Thursday afternoon.
The hearing marked the first court appearance for a trial set to consider whether management of Sunset Ridge — a 312-unit, low-income apartment complex — violated the laws protecting tenants’ right to organize.
Sunset Ridge is owned by the Capital Realty Group, a New York-based landlord facing unionization efforts at properties across the country.
Due to time constraints, Paul Small — the attorney representing Sunset Ridge and two property managers — did not cross-examine Melonakos on Thursday. Small also did not respond to requests for comment by the publication time of this article.
The case before the court on Thursday began on Feb. 18, when members of the Sunset Ridge Tenants Union filed for an injunction to stop the landlord’s alleged retaliation against union members. In addition to seeking damages, the complaint asks the court to have management rescind a pre-eviction notice against Cynthia Vega-Vieyra, a union leader and Sunset Ridge resident.
On Thursday, the two-hour hearing focused on alleged retaliation against tenants-union organizers.
“Pretty central to a tenant’s right to organize is the ability to invite tenants union organizers to visit them,” said Amy Eppler-Epstein, a New Haven Legal Assistance Association (NHLAA) attorney representing the plaintiffs.
A 20-person crowd, marked by the bright blue of their CTTU shirts, filled the courtroom. Eppler-Epstein invited Melonakos to the witness stand and asked him to tell state Superior Court Judge Alayna Stone about his encounters with management.
He recalled his car being towed from visitor parking, a property manager serving him a “No Trespass Notice,” and pictures of his face being posted throughout the complex.
Those incidents represent a clear message that “management is going to make your life very difficult if you dare to organize,” said Melonakos. The landlord, in turn, evoked “fear and hesitation from tenants at Sunset Ridge,” who might have otherwise spoken with organizers and joined the union.
He also described alleged efforts to intimidate and harass tenants.
On three separate occasions, groups of people interrupted CTTU press conferences with megaphones, sirens, and signs, said Melonakos. Some people acted aggressively, even hitting one union member, he said.
“They were trying to drown out the voices of the tenants there,” said Melonakos.
Eppler-Epstein asked him if they had succeeded. “I would say yes,” he replied. “The sirens were unbearable,” blaring for hours and leaving his ears ringing.
Melonakos said a Sunset Ridge property manager, Yoana Avila, helped disrupt CTTU’s event in Spring Valley, New York, outside of Capital Realty’s offices. He saw her act “chatty and friendly” with the people interrupting a CTTU press conference in November, he said.
Melonakos also noted that Sebastian Gomez — the president of a different tenants union at Sunset Ridge — and Fair Haven landlord Alejandro De Frutos participated in all three of the disruptions. (While not the subject of Thursday’s proceedings, the Fair Rent Commission has still not formally recognized either Gomez’s union or the union associated with CTTU, even after more than three months of review.)
Throughout Thursday’s hearing, Small rarely spoke, only objecting to Melonakos saying that tenants had grown fearful of unionizing due to management’s actions against CTTU organizers. Small argued that such testimony was either hearsay or speculative.
Small also said that he plans to file a motion to dismiss the case.
At the end of his testimony, Melonakos described the broader implications of the case on tenant-organizing in Connecticut. The decision will “send[] a message to any tenants that are experiencing the same issues as the Sunset Ridge tenants,” said Melonakos. If the right to organize is not upheld, “that sets a very dangerous precedent for tenants across Connecticut.”
Attorney Megan Rodriguez-Carr, representing the plaintiffs, and attorney Paul Small, representing the defendants.
Judge Alayna Stone.
CTTU VP Melonakos (in blue), with Sunset Ridge tenant Cynthia Vega-Vieyra, outside the courthouse on Feb. 18. Credit: Mona Mahadevan file photo