A Mississauga woman who alleges she was prevented from buying a townhouse in Fergus, Ont., because she is Black has brought a complaint against the homebuilder to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.Michelle Walkes, a registered practical nurse, is seeking $50,000 and an apology from Cambridge, Ont.-based Reid’s Heritage Homes as well as Carmen Rocha, a new homes sales consultant for the builder.Both Reid’s and Rocha deny the allegations, which have not yet gone before the tribunal.In her claim, Walkes says she felt like she had been “punched in the face” after her encounter with Rocha on April 11, 2017, in Fergus, north of Guelph.Walkes alleges in the claim that Rocha switched from helpful, “warm and bubbly” on the telephone to “detached” and “much less welcoming” when Walkes showed up later that day to view the model townhouse unit in a new subdivision called Westminster Highlands.Rocha had told her on the phone the $461,000 unit was available, Walkes says.According to her claim, Walkes says that after driving for an hour from Brampton with her partner Terrence Thomas and arriving at the sales centre in Fergus, Rocha told Walkes she would need to provide the entire $22,000 deposit for the unit that day. But minutes later when Walkes told Rocha she had her chequebook and was ready to pay, Rocha refused to accept the money, Walkes says in her claim.“Ms. Rocha said that she could not sell the unit to (my partner) and I. She (Rocha) claimed that a man had visited the previous day who was very interested and that he would perhaps be making an offer on the following day and for this reason she could not sell the unit,” Walkes says in her application to the tribunal.Walkes says after she and her partner Thomas, a correctional officer who is Black, left the sales office, Thomas later called Rocha back on the telephone asking about and expressing interest in the unit.“Ms. Rocha stated that t ...
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