Indiana woman ordered to pay $225k for making racist insults, death threats toward neighbors

Within a month of moving into a rental house in the Twin Creeks subdivision in Indianapolis’ northwest side in 2016, Donata Banks and her family found themselves on the receiving end of vicious racial slurs and harassment — all at the hand of their neighbor, Vicki New, according to a decided federal lawsuit.

New, who is white and had lived there for a little over a year at that point, called Banks a “Black n----- , b---h” and commented that the neighborhood was “better before all of you n----- moved in," according to the lawsuit.

New was ordered by a federal judge June 16 to pay over $225,000 to Banks and the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana. Banks and the housing center had filed the lawsuit in April 2020.

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Banks will receive a total of $150,000 in compensatory and punitive damages, as well as attorney fees, and the Fair Housing Center will receive about $50,000 along with attorney fees, according to the decision, which was announced Thursday, June 30.

In addition to harassing Banks, following her daughter and other children of color to the bus stop, New hurled a regular volley of racist insults at her neighbors of color for more than two years that escalated to death threats and calling the cops on her neighbors for no valid reason, according to the federal complaint.

The complaint detailed numerous other allegations of New hurling racially derogatory remarks at Black and Hispanic neighbors, including calling a Black neighbor’s sons “drug lords” and her teenage daughters “whores.”

A default judgement was entered against New in April 2021 after she refused to participate in court proceedings. She could not be reached for comment by IndyStar. 

“We are extremely pleased with this judgment against Vicki New, which reflects the great harm that occurred,” stated Amy Nelson, executive director of the FHCCI. “Our client and others residing in the Twin Creeks subdivision endured relentless harassment based on race or national origin for far too long. This ruling sends a message to all that harassment and housing discrimination of any kind is unacceptable and the law will be enforced.”

Along with New, the Twin Creeks Homeowners Association and property management firm Kirkpatrick Management, who govern the approximately 266 single-family homes in the residential subdivision, were named as defendants in the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleged they violated the Fair Housing Act, Civil Rights Act, Indiana Fair Housing Act, and state law regarding inflicting emotional distress.

The homeowners association and Kirkpatrick Management settled the case in March 2022, As part of that separate settlement, they agreed to pay $262,500 as compensation for the Plaintiffs’ damages, attorneys fees and costs. 

When reached for comment by IndyStar, the homeowners association president Wyatt Smith and Kirkpatrick Management each said that the settlement is not an admission of liability, that New was never a representative of the association or management, and that they decided to settle the case in order to avoid protracted and costly litigation.

“The volunteers serving on the HOA Board took a number of steps to intervene in this matter, up to and including a formal letter to Ms. New from the HOA’s attorney ordering that she cease all communication with her neighbors and sell her home, which she did shortly after receiving the letter," Smith wrote in an email to IndyStar.

‘You wouldn’t be alive if my grandfather were still alive’ 

New frequently yelled racial slurs at Latino and Black neighbors, including calling a Latino woman “fat b---h” and said that “you wouldn’t be alive if my grandfather were still alive,” according to the federal complaint. She made death threats, such as threatening to “wrap a hose around your neck,” according to the complaint.

When New’s Mexican neighbors began running a licensed and permitted day care in their home, three houses down from New, New yelled through the closed door that it was illegal to operate a business in the neighborhood and that the day care’s clients were “a piece of shit and do not belong here,” according to the complaint.

She called the police to claim the day care was an illegal business. The allegations eventually were dismissed as unfounded but harmed the neighbor’s business reputation and several clients left the day care out of fear of New’s harassment, according to the complaint. 

The neighbor finally closed the day care, a year after it opened, due to fear of New, according to the complaint.

Homeowners association also held responsible

The homeowners association was contacted by many residents between 2016 and 2018 about New's campaign of racist behavior but, the federal complaint alleges, did not do anything to stop New's conduct. They advised residents to call the police instead.

However, the legal complaint outlines that the homeowners association had the power to stop New's discrimination and harassment. It states that the association and property management could have enforced covenants that banned “noxious, destructive, or offensive activity," among other things.

Contact IndyStar reporter Ko Lyn Cheang at kcheang@indystar.com or 317-903-7071. Follow her on Twitter: @kolyn_cheang.