"End-market demand is expected to remain weak during thesecond quarter of 2009, reflecting reduced global economicactivity and continued effects from tight credit markets," thecompany said, adding that supply chain destocking woulddecline. Shares of the company closed at $5.06 Wednesday on the NewYork Stock Exchange. For the alerts, please double click [ID:nWNAB4818] (Reporting by Arup Roychoudhury in Bangalore; Editing by RatulRay Chaudhuri) Stocks Global Markets. Justice Department Files Lawsuit Alleging Disability-Based HousingDiscrimination at Six Complexes in Sioux Falls, South DakotaWASHINGTON, May 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Justice Department filed alawsuit today against Equity Homes Inc, PBR LLC, BBR LLC and Shane Hartung inU.S. District Court in South Dakota for failing to provide accessible featuresrequired by the Fair Housing Act at multi-family housing developments in SiouxFalls.
The lawsuit, which originated from a complaint filed with the U.S. Departmentof Housing and Urban Development (HUD), concerns six Sioux Falls complexes -East Briar Apartments, West Briar Apartments, Kensington Apartments, BeverlyGardens Apartments, Sertoma Hills Apartments and Sertoma Hills Villas. "When builders and designers construct homes without regard for accessiblefeatures, they are effectively shutting the door to persons withdisabilities," said Loretta King, Acting Assistant Attorney General for theJustice Department's Civil Rights Division. "Designing and constructingmulti-family housing without basic features of accessibility violates thelaw." "The Fair Housing Act's design and construction standards for accessiblehousing in multifamily dwellings are clear and have been law for 18 years.Most architects, builders and developers get it right. We commend Fair Housingof the Dakotas for bringing this case to our attention for enforcement of thelaw," stated HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal OpportunityJohn Trasvina.The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race,color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin and disability. Amongother things, the act requires that new multifamily housing developments bedesigned and constructed with basic accessibility features, includingaccessible common and public use areas, accessible routes to and throughapartments, doors wide enough for wheelchair users, kitchens and bathroomswith sufficient maneuvering space for wheelchair users, outlets andenvironmental controls in accessible locations, and bathrooms withreinforcements for grab bars. The complaint alleges that the defendants failedto include certain of these required accessibility features at each of the sixcomplexes.The lawsuit seeks a court order requiring the defendants to modify thecomplexes to bring them into compliance with federal laws and prohibitingfuture discrimination by the defendants, as well as monetary damages tocompensate victims.Fighting illegal housing discrimination is a top priority of the JusticeDepartment.
More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws itenforces is available at Additional information about theFair Housing Act is also available at and. Individuals who believe that they may have been victims ofhousing discrimination can call the Housing Discrimination Tip Line at1-800-896-7743, e-mail the Justice Department at , orcontact the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development at1-800-669-9777.The complaint is an allegation of unlawful conduct The allegations must stillbe proven in federal court SOURCEU.S Department of JusticeU.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs, +1-202-514-2007, TDD+1-202-514-1888. * Additional Actions Taken to Aggressively Lower Cost Structure, Maximize Cash,Reduce Debt* Positive Cash Flow Used to Reduce Debt by Another $27 Million, or 8%BUFFALO, N.Y.--(Business Wire)--Gibraltar Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROCK), a leading manufacturer, processor,and distributor of products for the building, industrial, and vehicular markets,today reported its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009.First-quarter sales were $205 million, a decrease of 30% compared to $294million in the first quarter 2008 as economic and market conditions continued todeteriorate well beyond expectations and any previous recessionary trends.Housing starts decreased 50% to below 600,000 units per year and automotiveproduction decreased by 51% to below 8 million vehicles per year. Gibraltarunit-volume declines followed the market declines particularly in our ProcessedMetal Products segment where we experienced a decline of 45% in tons processed.Businesses within our Building Products segment that have a stronger focus inthe repair, remodeling, and commercial markets experienced smaller unit-volumedeclines which partially offset the higher declines in our Processed MetalProducts segment and other Building Products businesses.
The first-quarter 2009 results from continuing operations included an operatingmargin of (8.3)% and a loss of $12.0 million, or $(0.40) per diluted share,compared to a 6.5% operating margin and income of $7.4 million, or $0.25 perdiluted share, in the first quarter 2008, excluding restructuring costs in bothyears and a non-cash impairment charge in the first quarter 2009. Results weredriven by the significant decline in unit volume and, particularly in ourProcessed Metal Products segment, the precipitous decline in margins as a resultof the FIFO impact on cost of sales. The Company incurred an after-tax non-cashgoodwill impairment charge of $15.1 million, or $0.50 per diluted share, duringthe three months ended March 31, 2009. The Company also incurred after-taxrestructuring charges of $0.5 million, or $0.02 per diluted share, in the firstquarter of 2009 compared to $1.4 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, for thecomparable prior-year period.