Jury says Virginia campground must pay 2 families $750,000 for discrimination against Black camper

Two families have been awarded $750,000 after a jury ruled that the owner of a Virginia campground discriminated against them because one of the campers was a Black man.

Two families have been awarded $750,000 after a jury ruled that the owner of a Virginia campground discriminated against them because one of the campers was a Black man.

Friends Amanda Mills and Angela Smith had planned a joint family camping trip to Lazy Cove Campground in June 2020. Smith, who is white, took her husband, Damien Smith, who is Black, and their 8-year-old son to join Mills’ family for the getaway.

Their plans took a turn after they got a phone call from the campground’s owner, Regina Turner. According to a complaint filed with the Virginia Fair Housing Board — first reported by The Washington Post — Turner told Mills, “You didn’t tell me that your friend’s husband is Black.”

“Had I known, I wouldn’t have rented the lot to them. I saw the son, but I figured everyone makes a mistake,” she said, according to the complaint.

According to court documents, Turner is alleged to have told another tenant on the campground that she wanted to wait until their lease ended instead of moving forward with eviction.