The city of Greenwood Village has settled a two-year-old federal lawsuit for $550,000 brought by the operator of a Motel 6 who alleged the affluent Denver suburb had harassed and tried to force out the small number of disabled homeless people staying there.
The lawsuit, filed Aug. 1, 2024, accused the town of about 15,000 of violating the federal Americans with Disabilities Act by allegedly launching a yearslong campaign against Neza Bharucha, who runs the motel, along with the homeless people who stayed there and struggled with mental health and past addiction issues — both considered disabilities under the law.
The city had argued that Bharucha had violated an ordinance passed in 2014 to limit the stay of any motel guest in Greenwood Village to 29 days in a consecutive 60-day period.
At the time, an exception was made if the guest had a written contract by a governmental or charitable group or an insurance agency to stay at the motel. The lawsuit contends that the allegedly targeted guests at the Motel 6 clearly fell under that exception and should be able to stay longer than 29 days if needed…