In Curto v A Country Place Condominium Association, an opinion issued by the federal 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, the condominium association issued pool rules providing for separate times for men and women to use the community pool. According to an association representative, these rules were implemented to accommodate the Orthodox principle of tznius, or modesty, according to which it is improper for men and women to see each other in a state of undress—including bathing attire. However, the rules allocated the majority of the evening hours to men. After two residents were fined for violating the rules, they sued claiming discrimination under both the Fair Housing Act and under New Jersey state laws regarding discrimination. The trial court granted summary disposition to the condominium association, finding that the gender-based rules applied to men and women equally.
The court of appeals reversed, finding that the while the rules provided roughly the same amount of use for men and women, the times of use were discriminatory because they allocated most of the evening hours to men, which assumed that women did not work outside the home and disproportionately impacted working women. The court of appeals reversed, remanding the the trial court for entry of a judgment in favor of the residents.
While Michigan is not in the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals and thus the opinion is not binding on Michigan condominiums, the opinion is persuasive because the principles under the Fair Housing Act apply across the United States; it seems likely the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals would rule similarly.