KANSAS CITY (LN) — U.S. Chief District Judge John W. Broomes on Wednesday denied in part NFI Apartment Management LLC’s motion to dismiss, allowing a former assistant property manager’s sex discrimination and housing discrimination claims to proceed to discovery while dismissing her race discrimination, hostile work environment, and retaliation allegations.
The ruling in Weekly v. NFI Apartment Management, LLC, Case No. 25-2580-JWB, comes after Na’tasha Weekly, a Black woman, alleged she faced discriminatory treatment after reporting sexual harassment by a maintenance worker and complaining about her hours being reduced.
Weekly, who earned $15 an hour, alleged that her supervisor, E.H., altered her time records to show only eight hours worked instead of the 40 hours required to waive her monthly rent. Weekly sent an email to human resources representative T.M. stating she believed E.H.’s actions were “discriminatory and illegal.”
The court dismissed Weekly’s hostile work environment claim, finding her allegations regarding maintenance worker M.G.’s conduct were “entirely conclusory.” The opinion noted that the only specific factual allegation was M.G.’s statement, “you and your fucking observations,” which the court deemed an isolated comment insufficient to create an abusive working environment.
However, Broomes allowed Weekly’s sex discrimination claim to stand. The judge reasoned that Weekly plausibly alleged she was terminated while M.G., a male, faced no discipline for threatening her fiancé during an altercation.
“According to Plaintiff, M.G., who is a male, was not disciplined at all for his actions regarding this incident,” Broomes wrote. “At this stage in the proceedings, the court will allow the sex discrimination claim to proceed.”
The judge dismissed Weekly’s race discrimination claims under Title VII and 42 U.S.C. § 1981, ruling she failed to plead facts showing differential treatment based on race. The court found her assertion that a white employee was not disciplined for overtime to be a legal conclusion, and noted that M.G.’s race was not alleged to be different from Weekly’s.
Weekly’s housing discrimination claims under 42 U.S.C. § 3604 also survived. NFI argued the lease was with a different entity, Village Associates, L.P., but Broomes declined to consider a third-party state court petition or convert the motion to summary judgment. The judge accepted Weekly’s allegation that NFI evicted Black employees upon termination while allowing non-Black employees to remain.
The court dismissed Weekly’s retaliation claims under § 1981 and the Fair Housing Act, finding her vague reference to “discriminatory and illegal” treatment did not put NFI on notice that she was complaining about unlawful race or housing discrimination.
Weekly filed the suit in October 2025 after receiving a right-to-sue letter from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She originally asserted 15 claims, consenting to the dismissal of two Title VII counts as part of the motion to dismiss briefing.