Inkster real estate developer says mayor harassed her, then froze her project to build 72 homes
A developer building a 72-home subdivision in Inkster says the city's mayor made a sexually degrading remark about her at her own groundbreaking, pressed her to build a private house for him and his wife, then used the city's tax and permitting powers to stall her project, according to a federal lawsuit filed Monday.
The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on behalf of four Annapolis Pointe development companies, names the city of Inkster, Mayor Byron H. Nolen, Buccilli Group LLC — the Livonia firm that runs the city's building department under contract — and building director Carolyn Taylor-Wilson. It alleges racial discrimination, sexual harassment, economic extortion and retaliatory breach of contract.
The companies hold title to the 72 parcels in the $21 million development, which broke ground July 18, 2025. All four are owned by ShaWanna Gajewski, identified in the filing as an African American woman. She told CBS Detroit in March that she is one of the few licensed Black female residential builders in the state.
At the groundbreaking, a guest speaker told the crowd that Gajewski, though dressed up for the occasion, also gets dirty and does the work. Seated beside her, Nolen responded loudly enough for attendees to hear: "Oh, I didn't know Shawanna got her knees dirty," the complaint says. The suit says the remark implied she won city contracts through sexual acts.
It describes that as part of a continuous pattern of sexually suggestive harassment. In May 2025, after Nolen texted her about a personal building project, he wrote back, "I knew you were fine lol don't tell your husband," according to the filing.
Nolen had emailed Gajewski in April 2024, asking her to build a private residence for him and his wife, the suit says. She declined, citing a conflict of interest. He later hired a consultant who also subcontracted on Annapolis Pointe, and the two fell out over a $5,000 fee. On Aug. 14, Nolen emailed about that dispute from a personal account, copying Gajewski, and warned that nonpayment would affect all the business she and her associates had in Inkster, the complaint says. Three days later, the city canceled a meeting set to resolve the project's delinquent taxes and has ignored requests to reschedule.
The city's 2023 purchase agreement requires a tax abatement while each home is under construction and until it sells, the suit says, but Inkster issued assessments on the vacant land, leaving $34,977.80 unpaid across the 72 parcels and referred to the Wayne County treasurer as a lien. Gajewski paid a winter tax bill in February under protest. The unpaid balances blocked her eligibility for development grants and construction financing, the complaint says.
She also alleges a double standard: each Annapolis Pointe home requires at least five permits and nine to 12 inspections — a projected 360 permits and up to 864 inspections across the development — while a $42.1 million, 315-unit rehab managed by white male principals was cleared under seven permits total.
Gajewski seeks more than $146,800 in compensatory damages plus $414,000 in sidewalk costs the suit says the city shifted onto her, more than $560,000 combined, along with punitive damages and attorney fees, and an order forcing the city to clear the taxes and approve outstanding permits.
CBS Detroit reached out to the mayor's office for comment on Thursday and has not received a response
The above video originally aired on March 11, 2026.
