[Iabs-talk] Fwd: [blindlaw] Hud charges Illinois university with violating Fair Housing Act
AZNOR99 at aol.com
AZNOR99 at aol.com
Sat Oct 3 21:42:26 UTC 2009
____________________________________
From: ckrugman at sbcglobal.net
Reply-to: blindlaw at nfbnet.org
To: blindlaw at nfbnet.org
Sent: 10/3/2009 5:20:13 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: [blindlaw] Hud charges Illinois university with violating Fair
Housing Act
HUD Charges? Illinois University with Violating the Fair Housing Act?
Thursday, Oct 1, 2009 @10:50am CDT
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today
announced that it has charged? Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois with
housing discrimination for allegedly refusing to allow a student with
epilepsy and blindness to live in a dormitory with her trained service dog.
The Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful to refuse to make reasonable
accommodations in policies or practices when a person with a disability
may require such an accommodation in order be afforded the equal housing
opportunity others enjoy.
"Having a service animal promotes independent living for many people with
disabilities, " said John Trasvia, HUD's Assistant Secretary for Fair
Housing and Equal Opportunity. "HUD is committed to making sure colleges and
universities promote supportive living environments for people living with
disabilities. "
HUD brought the charge on behalf of the student who obtained a service dog
from a non-profit organization that trained the dog to assist the student
in the event of an epileptic seizure. HUD alleges that once the student
obtained the service animal, Millikin University banned the student from even
entering the dormitory building with the dog, requiring the student to
vacate her room if she wanted to keep the animal and commute to school from her
parents' home. Later, the university relocated the student to an
inaccessible dormitory.
The HUD charge will be heard by a United States Administrative Law Judge
unless any party to the charge elects to have the case heard in federal
district court. If an administrative law judge finds after a hearing that
discrimination has occurred, he may award damages to the complainant for her
damages as a result of the discrimination. The judge may also order injunctive
relief and other equitable relief to deter further discrimination, as well
as payment of attorney fees. In addition, the judge may impose civil
penalties in order to vindicate the public interest.
A federal district court judge may also award punitive damages to the
complainant.
FHEO and its partners in the Fair Housing Assistance Program investigate
approximately 10,500 housing discrimination complaints annually. People who
believe they are the victims of housing discrimination should contact HUD
at 1-800-669-9777(voice),
800-927-9275 (TTY). Additional information is available at
www.hud.gov/fairhousing.
http://illinoishomepage.net/content/fulltext /?cid=109371_
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