Truck gone, but fight chugs on

A homeowners group wins a suit against a disabled man claiming discrimination. The pickup at the center of it was totaled in April.

By CANDACE RONDEAUX
© St. Petersburg Times
published June 19, 2002

PALM HARBOR -- A judge has struck down a disabled Palm Harbor man's claim that his homeowners association discriminated against him by ordering him to remove his truck from his driveway in a deed-restricted community.

Trouble is, the pickup truck in question no longer exists.

Anthony Colecchia's Dodge Ram truck was totaled in a traffic accident in April, shortly after his homeowners association sued him on the grounds that the vehicle violated a community bylaw banning trucks. Since then, Colecchia, 67, a retired New York City firefighter, has been driving a new Chevy Tahoe sport utility vehicle.

That's why, in part, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Thomas Penick ruled in favor of the Village of Somerset Woods homeowners association at a hearing June 4. The association had alleged that Colecchia exaggerated when he said his truck was a "medical necessity."

Colecchia said he needed a vehicle with more room and a custom-built driver's seat because an old spinal injury resulting in mild paralysis restricted his mobility.

Homeowners association attorney Steven Mezer said that the court ruled in his client's favor after the judge learned that Colecchia was able to drive an SUV, even though he had resisted earlier suggestions from the group that he replace his pickup with a more suitable vehicle that complied with deed restrictions.

Mezer said that sworn statements from Colecchia's physician also helped the homeowners association win its case. The doctor said Colecchia's spinal injury, which he suffered more than a decade ago, were not serious enough to support his claims of discrimination. The doctor said, in essence, that he does not prescribe pickup trucks for his patients, according to Mezer.

"The court basically examined that deposition and ruled that there was no apparent basis for Colecchia's claim," Mezer said.

The judge also barred Colecchia from pursuing any counterclaim against the homeowners association in Pinellas County courts. Nonetheless, an official with the Pinellas County Office of Human Rights said Colecchia has the option to pursue a separate lawsuit in state or federal court.

"We issued a determination which was reviewed by our county attorney's office that he was discriminated against," said Oliver Melvin, a compliance manager with the county's Office of Human Rights.

Though he no longer owns the truck, Colecchia is determined not to give up.

"I will take it to federal court if I have to," he said.

Mezer said the homeowners association is likely to pursue a separate lawsuit to collect legal fees from Colecchia. The lawyer also plans to ask the county to open a new investigation into Colecchia's claims of discrimination in the hope that it will reach a different conclusion.

But Melvin said the county is not likely to pursue the matter further.

"We consider the issue pretty much moot," Melvin said. "We would hope that the parties would move on and let the dust settle and get on with their lives."

-- Candace Rondeaux can be reached at (727) 445-4185.

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