The Sunset Ridge chapter of the Connecticut Tenants Union and tenant leader Cynthia Vega-Vieyra filed a lawsuit on February 18, 2026, against Capital Realty Group, alleging the New York-based landlord retaliated against residents who organized to address unsafe living conditions at the 312-unit low-income apartment complex in New Haven’s Quinnipiac Meadows neighborhood.
The lawsuit, announced at a press conference outside the New Haven courthouse, seeks court injunctions to stop eviction proceedings against Vega-Vieyra and halt what tenants describe as a sustained campaign of harassment and intimidation directed at union organizers. Attorney Amy Eppler-Epstein of the New Haven Legal Assistance Association is representing the plaintiffs. The case also seeks monetary damages.
New Haven Tenants Allege Pattern of Retaliation at Sunset Ridge
According to the complaint, Capital Realty Group and its principal, Mosche Eichler, engaged in a pattern of retaliation after residents at the Quinnipiac Meadows complex began organizing with the Connecticut Tenants Union in June 2025 over deteriorating living conditions.
Tenants allege that management delivered a pre-termination notice to Vega-Vieyra on January 29, 2026, threatening eviction specifically for her door-knocking activities within the complex. The notice came just six days after Vega-Vieyra contested a rent increase through New Haven’s Fair Rent Commission on January 23, 2026.
The lawsuit describes additional forms of alleged retaliation, including the towing of residents’ vehicles, “no trespass” notices served on union organizers, calls to police targeting union members, and the use of loud music and megaphones to disrupt tenants during press conferences.
In one of the most serious allegations, tenants claim the landlord threatened to contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement against residents involved in organizing. Management also allegedly circulated photos of union organizers to other tenants with instructions to report their movements, and created what the complaint describes as a rival “fake union” designed to undermine the legitimate organizing effort.
“It is illegal for landlords to retaliate against tenants for lawfully pursuing their rights,” Eppler-Epstein said at the February 18 press conference. “Connecticut law is very clear: Tenants have the right to organize.”
Unsafe Housing Conditions Sparked Organizing Effort
Sunset Ridge residents first reached out to the Connecticut Tenants Union in June 2025, reporting a range of persistent problems at the complex, including mold infestations, mice and other pest issues, untreated water leaks, and malfunctioning heating systems.
New Haven’s Livable City Initiative, the city department responsible for housing code enforcement, inspected the property on multiple occasions but did not levy fines against Capital Realty, the New Haven Independent reported.
Formal union card-signing began in October 2025, and tenants say harassment from management escalated as the organizing effort grew in the following months. Vega-Vieyra’s Fair Rent Commission challenge in January and the pre-termination notice that followed six days later marked a turning point that led directly to the lawsuit.
“If you are being harassed, bullied, intimidated, threatened — you all absolutely have rights,” Vega-Vieyra told supporters at the February 18 courthouse press conference.