A window company has settled with D.C. after the attorney general’s office accused it of discrimination in not providing service to certain areas, including ZIP codes east of the Anacostia River.
As part of its settlement with Attorney General Karl Racine, Renewal by Andersen LLC is now required to provide service equally to all residents, train its employees about complying with D.C.’s Human Rights Act and pay $50,000 to the District.
A resident complained in March that the company had refused service because she lived in the 20020 ZIP code, which includes the Anacostia, Barry Farm and Hillcrest neighborhoods. According to Racine’s office, an investigation found that it and eight other ZIP codes — 20019, 20032, 20005, 20006, 20010, 20018, 20024 and 20064 — had been excluded as well.
“Under District law, businesses are required to serve residents equally, regardless of where they live,” Racine said in a statement. “My office is committed to protecting residents’ civil rights, and we will take action if we find evidence of discrimination.”
Renewal by Anderson, a subsidiary of Minnesota-based Andersen Corp., said in a statement that it is committed to serving “as many homeowners as we can.”
“We fully cooperated with their investigation and are happy to have reached a mutually acceptable resolution,” they said.
While Andersen doesn’t agree with allegations that it violated D.C.’s Human Rights Act, it did say that service areas are defined by “factors like building restrictions, historic preservation limitations, product limitations, accessibility for installation, violent crime rates and sales representative or installation capacity.”
