FirstService Residential, the residential property management subsidiary of FirstService Corporation, has been named in a wide range of lawsuits over the past decade, and the FirstService Residential lawsuits on public record cover fair housing discrimination, labor and wage disputes, employer liability for an employee’s DUI crash, and condominium boards alleging mismanagement of their money. Outcomes have varied sharply: one jury returned a roughly $12 million net verdict against the company, the National Labor Relations Board extracted a settlement over anti-union conduct in Minnesota, and federal fair housing cases in Texas remain open as of mid-2026, while several employment suits ended in confidential settlements or dismissals.
Fair Housing Charges in Providence Village, Texas
The most prominent ongoing matter is a set of federal fair housing cases tied to Providence Village, Texas. On January 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development formally charged FirstService Residential Texas and the Providence Homeowners Association with intentional race-based discrimination in violation of the Fair Housing Act.1HUD Archives. HUD Charges Providence Homeowners Association With Housing Discrimination
HUD’s investigation found that the HOA adopted a rule in June 2022 banning Section 8 voucher holders outright. After pausing that rule under federal pressure, the HOA pivoted in 2023 to restrictions capping rental units at 25 percent of lots and limiting landlords to a single rental property. HUD concluded those workarounds still disproportionately harmed voucher holders, 93 percent of whom in the community are Black, and cited “numerous examples of PHOA board members engaged in racial hostility” along with allegedly retaliatory lawsuits against residents.2Relman Colfax. HUD Charges Providence HOA
Complainants elected on January 22, 2025 to have the charge referred to the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. The DOJ had 30 days to sue and did not, and HUD withdrew the referral on February 21, 2025.3Redline Civil Rights. Charge of Discrimination Against Providence Homeowners Association
Residents then filed their own suits in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, including Johnson v. Providence Homeowners (25-cv-00418), McKinney v. Providence Homeowners (25-cv-00467), and Denton v. Providence (25-cv-00774). On January 5, 2026, the court allowed intentional discrimination claims to move forward, denying motions to dismiss on those grounds.3Redline Civil Rights. Charge of Discrimination Against Providence Homeowners Association The McKinney Housing Authority filed its own federal discrimination suit against the HOA and FirstService in May 2026.4Bisnow. North Texas HOA, Property Manager Face Discrimination Lawsuit for Blocking Section 8 Renters All of these cases remain pending.
Not every fair housing suit has gone against the company. In King v. FirstService Residential Texas Inc. (3:25-cv-00521) in the Northern District of Texas, Senior Judge Jane J. Boyle granted summary judgment for FirstService on April 30, 2026, ruling that no claims remained.5PACER Monitor. King v. FirstService Residential Texas Inc
The $15 Million DUI Employer Liability Verdict
The largest publicly reported damages award against FirstService came in George v. FirstService Residential California, LLC, tried before a Los Angeles Superior Court jury in March 2017. The case grew out of a St. Patrick’s Day crash in 2013 on the 134 freeway in Pasadena. Lance Sandman, a FirstService property manager, became intoxicated while scouting ideas for a company event at a bar and then crashed his vehicle with plaintiff Tomislav George, a condominium board member, in the passenger seat.6The National Trial Lawyers. Jury Awards $15 Million Against Property Mgmt Company for DUI Accident Involving Employee
George argued Sandman was acting within the scope of his employment and that FirstService was negligent for failing to enroll Sandman in the California DMV’s employer notification program, which would have surfaced a prior DUI conviction Sandman had not disclosed. FirstService argued the outing was social and that George bore fault for riding with an intoxicated driver.7VerdictSearch. Injured Passenger: Driver’s Employer Knew About Prior DUI
The jury awarded roughly $15 million in total damages and found FirstService 80 percent liable, with George 20 percent at fault. After comparative negligence, the net verdict came to about $12 million, including $7.5 million for future pain and suffering, $4 million for past pain and suffering, $1.5 million for future lost earnings, and more than $1.9 million for past and future medical expenses.7VerdictSearch. Injured Passenger: Driver’s Employer Knew About Prior DUI
Condominium Board Fiduciary Duty Suits
Several condominium associations have sued FirstService Residential over how buildings and their finances were managed. The outcomes have turned on whether the alleged misconduct went beyond contract terms.
Brightwater Towers, New York
The Board of Managers of Brightwater Towers Condominium, a 734-unit property, sued FirstService Residential New York in 2017 for breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty, alleging misappropriation of funds and self-dealing outside the management agreement. The trial court initially dismissed the fiduciary duty claim as duplicative and disqualified the board’s law firm. In April 2021, the Appellate Division reversed both rulings, finding the misappropriation and self-dealing allegations distinct enough from the contract claim to survive and holding that disqualifying counsel was unwarranted.8NY Courts. Board of Mgrs. of Brightwater Towers Condominium v FirstService Residential N.Y., Inc. The case remains unresolved.
The Gotham Condominium, New York
The Gotham Condominium sued FirstService in New York County Supreme Court in 2014, alleging the company failed to order required replacement terrace railings, misrepresented that the work was done, and then failed to notify insurance carriers of threatened litigation, causing the insurer to deny coverage for a subsequent unit-owner suit the condominium eventually settled. The Gotham sought at least $700,000. In February 2015, the court let the breach of contract claim proceed, which the defendants conceded, but dismissed the fraud, negligence, fiduciary duty, and indemnification claims as duplicative of the contract claim.9Justia. The Gotham Condominium v. FirstService Residential
Labor and Employment Cases
FirstService has faced labor and employment claims in multiple states, with mixed resolutions.
In October 2022, SEIU Local 26 filed an NLRB charge accusing FirstService Residential Minnesota of interfering with workers’ organizing rights. The board’s complaint alleged the company kept coercive workplace rules, barred employees from discussing wages and unionization on the job, and pressured workers to sign a document requiring them to report union-related inquiries from coworkers, customers, or the media to company executives.10Patch. Federal Labor Board Settles With FirstService Residential Minnesota Over Anti-Union Tactics
FirstService settled with the NLRB in April 2023 through a bilateral settlement agreement. The company had to rescind a “global media policy” that had barred employees from speaking to the press about working conditions or union views, and to post and mail notices affirming workers’ rights to discuss wages, hours, and unions. No monetary penalties were imposed; the NLRB lacks authority to order them.11News From the States. Federal Labor Board Settles With FirstService Residential Minnesota Over Anti-Union Tactics
The company had previously settled a class-action wage theft suit brought by former caretaker Kevin Borowske. Borowske was fired in January 2023 and filed a separate NLRB complaint alleging the termination was retaliation for his role in the wage theft case and for union organizing.12Minnesota Reformer. Federal Labor Board Settles With FirstService Residential Minnesota Over Anti-Union Tactics The outcome of Borowske’s retaliation complaint has not been publicly reported.
Federal employment suits in other states have generally settled. In Nunez v. FirstService Residential Florida, Inc. (1:16-cv-24159), an employee’s Fair Labor Standards Act case settled in 2017 after the Southern District of Florida approved the agreement as “fair and reasonable” and dismissed the case with prejudice.13CourtListener. Nunez v. Firstservice Residential Florida, Inc.
In Cabral v. FirstService Residential, Nevada, LLC (2:25-cv-00860), filed in May 2025 in the District of Nevada, an employee brought claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Pregnancy discrimination claims in the original complaint were dismissed without prejudice in September 2025 before an amended complaint was filed. The parties reached a confidential settlement at a January 2026 conference, and the case was dismissed with prejudice the following month. Court records indicate the plaintiff’s opening demand was “more than 300 times higher” than the defendant’s counteroffer, though the actual figures were not disclosed.14PACER Monitor. Cabral v. FirstService Residential, Nevada, LLC
Where the Cases Stand
Several of the most consequential matters are still open. The Providence Village fair housing suits in the Eastern District of Texas are moving forward on intentional discrimination theories after the January 2026 ruling, and the McKinney Housing Authority’s May 2026 suit is newer still. The Brightwater Towers fiduciary duty case remains active following the 2021 appellate reversal. Resolved matters have run the range from a roughly $12 million net jury verdict in the George DUI case, to the Minnesota NLRB settlement without monetary penalties, to summary judgment for FirstService in the King fair housing case and confidential settlements in the Nunez and Cabral employment cases. FirstService Residential describes itself as North America’s largest residential property management organization, and the volume and variety of its litigation track with the scale of that footprint.15FirstService Corporation. About Us