[il-talk] Fwd: [blindlaw] Hud charges Illinois university with violating Fair Housing Act

[AZNOR99 at aol.com]

____________________________________
 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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