[nfbmi-talk] merry christmas?

[Terry D. Eagle]

Hmmmmmmmm,  WWJD, What Would Jesus DO were he alive within that "Christian
Religious Institution"?

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Sent: Saturday, December 14, 2013 10:54 AM
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Subject: [nfbmi-talk] merry christmas?

Judge More info needed about shelter that turn - Flash Player Installation

 

By

Brian Bowling

y

Published: Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013, 1:42 p.m.

 

A faith-based, men's homeless shelter that turned away a blind man because
of his seeing-eye dog might be exempt from federal housing and disability
laws,

but it still has to prove that, a federal judge ruled on Thursday.

 

In separate lawsuits in November 2012 and June 2013, Kenneth DeFiore, whose
age was unavailable, and the federal government, respectively, claim that
City

Rescue Mission of New Castle violated federal regulations when it refused to
provide DeFiore, who is blind, with shelter in December 2011 because of the

dog.

 

Bruce McElrath, chairman of the Philadelphia-based Disability Rights
Advocacy Group Inc., said he's never heard of a homeless shelter refusing to
take a

blind person.

 

"You can't turn somebody down because they're blind and have a seeing-eye
dog," he said. "I think that's horrible."

 

Kevin Green, executive director and CEO of City Rescue Mission, and John
Steidle, the lead attorney representing the shelter, couldn't be reached for
comment.

 

The shelter, which requires residents to attend group meetings and church
services during their stays, claims it's exempt from the Americans with
Disabilities

Act and the Fair Housing Act because it's a religious organization.

 

Carol Horowitz, managing attorney of the Pittsburgh office of the Disability
Rights Network, said she has heard of other cases in which shelters refused

people because of their service animals and wasn't surprised that one had.

 

"Certainly people with disabilities are discriminated against in services
such as shelters on a regular basis," she said. "Discrimination reaches all
walks

of life."

 

Most of those cases involve shelters that aren't handicapped accessible, she
said. The Disability Rights Network is a private, nonprofit group appointed

by the state to protect and advocate for people with disabilities.

 

U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon denied the shelter's motion to dismiss the
lawsuit, saying that determining whether it qualifies for the exemption
requires

a factual examination of nine factors enumerated by the 3rd U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals in a 2005 case.

 

In that case, the appeals court upheld a lower court ruling that threw out
an employment discrimination lawsuit an evangelical Christian filed against
the

Lancaster Jewish Community Center because the court determined the center
was a religious organization.

 

Bissoon's order allows the case to move forward and requires both sides to
develop the facts to support their positions. In addition to the religious
exemption,

the shelter claims it's exempt from the housing act because it doesn't sell
or rent living space to the residents.

 

The judge said she couldn't rule on that issue without more facts, such as
whether the shelter receives subsidies for housing the homeless.

 

Brian Bowling is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at
412-325-4301 or

bbowling at tribweb.com.

BrianBUpdate

TribLive

 

 

 

Source:

http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/5243857-74/shelter-court-federal#axzz2nSs
L11YN
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