(Woonsocket, RI) -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island is filing a lawsuit against the city of Woonsocket. The ACLU said it filed the suit on Monday because Woonsocket has illegally withheld critically needed grant funds from Sojourner House, a social service agency that helps domestic violence victims. The ACLU adds that the city retaliated against the agency after it petitioned other government agencies for help in resolving the dispute and also banned the agency from receiving any similar funding in the future. The suit claims the original decision to withhold the funds was based on allegations of property code violations involving the emergency shelter.