Atlanta, July 11 -- A white Georgia couple evicted a white tenant because she invited a black family to the home she was renting, according to a federal lawsuit that says the landlords violated civil rights and fair housing laws.

The housing discrimination lawsuit filed Wednesday says Patricia and Allen McCoy used racial slurs when telling Victoria Sutton to leave the home. Reached by phone, Patricia McCoy said she hadn't seen the lawsuit but said they didn't kick Sutton out over black visitors.

"I kicked her out because she was so nasty," McCoy said. "It was because of nastiness, tearing up everything and having a cat in the house when I told her she couldn't have no animals."

The lawsuit, filed on Sutton's behalf by the American Civi...