An ICU nurse in Boca Raton says she has filed an equal opportunity complaint against a condo association because she believes the association refused her application due to her proximity to coronavirus patients in the hospital where she works.

Jennifer Piraino says she submitted her residency application and the required $100 for a background check to the Boca View, however, a few days later, she received a call from the office telling her to pick up her money order and her application.

When Piraino inquired why, she was told that her application had been denied “just with everything going on.”

Piraino says that she doesn’t even think the association even bothered to do the background check and rejected her and her family based on her job.

“You can’t discriminate against people trying to help other people,” Piraino said. “They won’t take my calls or return my emails.”

 Piraino also said that she and her boyfriend who is a civil engineer, make pretty good money so she could not think of anything else that would be holding the association back. 

Another nurse who says she has lived in the condo association for 17 years says she received a call from the front office last month asking whether or not she had contracted the virus, however, she declined to give them an answer.

“It’s none of their business,” she said.

Greta Tremmel, the owner of the unit that Piraino wanted to rent, organized a picket line outside of the complex to demonstrate against what they both are calling an injustice.

Tremmel has since also filed a complaint on behalf of herself and Piraino with the Office of Equal Opportunity of Palm Beach County.