Amy Eppler-Epstein: “Connecticut law is very clear: Tenants have the right to organize.” Members of the Sunset Ridge Tenants Union and an attorney from New Haven Legal Assistance Association (NHLAA) began the process of suing a New York-based landlord on Wednesday, after a union leader was r eportedly threatened with eviction for door knocking. The lawsuit was announced during a press conference in front of the courthouse at 121 Elm St. Mayor Justin Elicker, Dwight Alder Frank Douglass, and members of U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro’s office also attended the presser. “It is illegal for landlords to retaliate against tenants for lawfully pursuing their rights to form tenants unions and to make complaints to [the Livable City Initiative],” said attorney Amy Eppler-Epstein. “The purpose of this lawsuit today is to try to stop that retaliation.” The announcement marks an escalation of organizing efforts at Sunset Ridge, a 312-unit, low-income apartment complex in Quinnipiac Meadows. The property is owned by the Capital Realty Group, which is facing unionization efforts across its portfolio. For more than a year, Sunset Ridge residents have spoken publicly about their experiences with mold, mice, untreated water leaks, and faulty heating at the complex. While the Livable City Initiative (LCI) has inspected the property multiple times, the agency has not levied any fines on Sunset Ridge, LCI Executive Director Liam Brennan told the Independent. In June 2025, residents turned to the Connecticut Tenants Union (CTTU) for help improving their living conditions. Some residents say that working with CTTU has brought about harassment and retaliation from affiliates of Capital Realty. According to union leaders, property managers have towed their cars, heckled their press conferences, and threatened to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on tenants. They also claim that management has created a fake union to stall organizing efforts. Capital Realty did not respond to requests for comment. For a previous article, Yoana Avilas, a property manager at Sunset Ridge, said the complex has no complaints related to heat, hot water, or mold. She also accused the CTTU-backed union of harassing tenants. Sebastian Gomez, the president of a different tenants union at Sunset Ridge, has repeatedly said his group is not backed by management. Capital Realty’s alleged retaliation crescendoed with a pre-termination notice, which was delivered to Cynthia Vega-Vieyra on Jan. 29. Vega-Vieyra, a union leader, has lived in Sunset Ridge for seven years. She told the Independent that her apartment is still infested with mold and mice, even after multiple maintenance calls. Last month, she began the process of contesting a rent hike through the Fair Rent Commission. On Wednesday, Eppler-Epstein said the notice to Vega-Vieyra threatens to begin eviction proceedings unless she stops canvassing. “They’re claiming that her door knocking activity has been harassing other tenants,” said Eppler-Epstein. Not only does Vega-Vieyra’s behavior not constitute harassment, she argued, but the notice also violates the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act by intimidating tenants who want to organize. “Even if they don’t bring the eviction, just sending the notice” will “scare people away from joining a union,” said Eppler-Epstein. The application for an injunction lists the plaintiffs as Vega-Vieyra and the Sunset Ridge chapter of CTTU. In addition to contesting the pre-termination notice, the document alleges other forms of retaliation, such as management serving “no trespass” notices and calling the police on organizers. At CTTU rallies, “people would arrive to heckle and harass the attendees, with the goal of intimidating them and discouraging their organizing activity,” reads the document. “The harassment took the form of blaring loud music through loudspeakers and shouting through megaphones.” Eppler-Epstein, who signed the application, told the Independent that a property manager participated in the heckling at least once. The document also alleges that someone posted pictures of a CTTU organizer throughout the complex and asked residents to call the police if they were spotted. In addition to seeking damages, Eppler-Epstein is pushing for an injunction to stop Vega-Vieyra’s eviction and Capital Realty’s alleged harassment. The suit comes two years after Eppler-Epstein successfully sued Ocean Management for filing notices to quit against 16 members of the Blake Street Tenants Union, arguing that the eviction efforts were a form of retaliation. The notices were quickly rescinded. In the Sunset Ridge case, the next step is for a judge to schedule a show-cause hearing, said Eppler-Epstein. CTTU Vice President Luke Melonakos stressed that the union would be willing to drop the lawsuit if Mosche Eichler — the principal of Capital Realty — stopped retaliating against organizers and agreed to negotiate with the union. Meanwhile, Vega-Vieyra is not letting the notice scare her away from organizing. “[Mosche Eichler] is just doing silly things because he’s afraid of losing,” she told the Independent. During the press, she called on her fellow tenants to defend their right to organize and continue pushing for better living conditions. “Instead of our homes being a place of rest and a place where we build our dreams and the lives of many generations to come, landlords use all of our money to turn our lives into a living hell, using tactics of terror and extreme harassment, including illegal evictions,” said Vega-Vieyra. “If you are being harassed, bullied, intimidated, threatened — you all absolutely have rights.” Tawana Galberth, a union leader and Sunset Ridge tenant: “I’m not leaving. I stand my ground.” The post Tenants Union Takes Landlord To Court appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less