From Dearborn Hills Civic Ass'n, Inc., v. Scripps Media Inc., decided Thursday by the Court of Appeals of Michigan (Presiding Judge Christopher Murray and Judges Mark Cavanagh, and Thomas Cameron):
This case arises from a July 15, 2020 news story that aired on WXYZ-Detroit … entitled: "Claims of Unfair Treatment Made by Homeowners Disputed by [DHCA]." DHCA is an organization of volunteers tasked with monitoring and enforcing deed restrictions in the Dearborn Hills neighborhood of Dearborn, Michigan….
The news story included interviews with three homeowners who live in the Dearborn Hills neighborhood—Mariam Sleiman, Lindsey Mahanna, and Nasser Beydoun (collectively, the "homeowners"). Defendants' story represented that these homeowners believed DHCA had unfairly targeted Arab-American homeowners. The homeowners' complaints arose from earlier legal actions by DHCA against them. Each of the homeowners had sought DHCA's approval to make certain renovations to their homes, but DHCA denied their requests on the basis of certain deed restrictions. When the homeowners refused to comply with DHCA's denials, DHCA filed suit. DHCA prevailed after a court in the respective actions found DHCA was within its authority to enforce the deed restrictions.
[WXYZ anchor Dave] LewAllen introduced the news story stating: "[O]nly on Seven tonight, a legal battle between a Dearborn civic association overseeing home improvements and some property owners claiming unfair treatment based on their ethnicity. Seven Action News reporter Simon Shaykhet goes digging for answers in Dearborn and he has both sides of the story." The story cut to Shaykhet who reported:
