[il-talk] Hud charges Illinois university with violatingFairHousing Act

[Connie J. Davis]

My mom told me about this.   


Connie 


-----Original Message-----
From: il-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:il-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Patti Gregory-Chang
Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2009 4:53 PM
To: NFB of Illinois Mailing List; Illinois Association of Blind Students
List
Subject: [il-talk] Hud charges Illinois university with violatingFairHousing
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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