Sacramento - The Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH)
today announced a $1 million settlement of a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by DFEH against a San Francisco landlord
who refused a tenant's request for an accessible parking space. This settlement is the largest in DFEH history for
a housing discrimination case.
"I hope that this case sends a strong reminder to housing providers of the
legal obligation to provide reasonable accommodation for tenants with disabilities," said DFEH Director Suzanne M. Ambrose.
"Housing providers cannot simply disregard or ignore a tenant's request for a reasonable accommodation. Something
as reasonable as providing an accessible parking space or an extra key for a caregiver does not impose an economic hardship
for a housing provider, but significantly enhances the quality of life for a person with severe degenerative joint disease."
In a lawsuit filed in San Francisco County Superior Court, the DFEH contended that in May 2000, the owners of
an apartment building violated the civil rights of a tenant, Shirley Carper, who has severe degenerative joint disease.
The landlord, 2001 California Partnership, refused her request for reasonable accommodation of her disability.
Ms.
Carper, a tenant for 24 years of an apartment building on California Street, in San Francisco, requested a reasonable accommodation
for an accessible parking space, and extra keys for her live-in caregiver. The building owner denied her request for
an accommodation. The tenant contacted the DFEH and Project Sentinel, a nonprofit organization that deals with housing
discrimination. Project Sentinel was a real party in interest in the lawsuit. For the next three years, Ms. Carper
fought for her parking space. It was only after the DFEH filed a lawsuit that the parking space was granted.
After an eight day trial and a full day of deliberations, the jury found the landlord liable for disability harassment
and denial of a reasonable accommodation and awarded compensatory damages. Before the jury returned to deliberate on
the amount of punitive damages to award, the parties settled the case for $1 million in compensatory damages and affirmative
relief. The affirmative relief includes requiring the landlord to: develop and disseminate to all residents a
written policy regarding their right to receive, and the owner's duty to provide, reasonable accommodation under the Fair
Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), undergo training regarding the duties of a landlord under the FEHA, and post the court's
order that the landlord violated the FEHA.
