US court says Housing Act covers harassed LGBT tenant
Source: Associated Press
Michael Tarm, Ap Legal Affairs Writer
Updated 8:03 pm CDT, Tuesday, August 28, 2018
CHICAGO (AP) — A federal appeals court found that the U.S. Fair Housing Act places obligations on landlords to protect LGBT tenants from harassment by other tenants.
The new ruling by the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Court of Appeals, posted late Monday, sides with 70-year-old Marsha Wetzel. She accused a suburban Chicago senior living center of doing nothing to stop other residents from hurling homophobic slurs at her, spitting on her and even striking her because of her sexual orientation.
The unanimous, 20-page ruling by the three-judge panel reverses a lower-court judge who tossed Wetzel's lawsuit against the Glen Saint Andrew Living Community in Niles.
"Not only does (the Fair Housing Act) create liability when a landlord intentionally discriminates against a tenant based on a protected characteristic," the ruling said, "it also creates liability against a landlord that has actual notice of tenant-on-tenant harassment ... yet chooses not to take any reasonable steps within its control to stop that harassment."
Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/us/article/US-court-says-Housing-Act-covers-harassed-LGBT-13189545.php
