Idaho Developer Called Out for Discrimination Against the Disabled

Post Falls, IDWhile racial discrimination and workplace discrimination constitute two of the most common affronts to discrimination law, one that is often overlooked but equally discriminatory is the ignorance towards persons with disabilities—not in the workplace, but where they live.

A case in point is the lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice against the developer of Riverwalk Condominiums in Post Falls, Idaho. The action, filed in federal court against Riverwalk Condominiums LLC, alleges that the developer of the 36-unit complex failed to take into account various requirements for the disabled and persons with disabilities.

Specifically the allegations and charges under the accessibility provisions of the Fair Housing Act relate to 18 ground-floor units. Among the allegations: that the public and common use areas are not accessible to people with disabilities; the routes to some units are not accessible; some kitchens and bathrooms are not fully usable by people in wheelchairs; and electrical outlets and environmental controls are mounted too high or too low for access by people in wheelchairs.

"Architectural barriers can be as big an obstacle to the housing rights of people with disabilities as an outright refusal to rent to them," said Loretta King, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, in comments appearing in the September 12 issue of the Real Estate Business Journal. "Access to housing is a civil right, and the Justice Department is committed to correcting such violations of the Fair Housing Act."

The lawsuit alleges that the conduct of the defendant in this regard suggests a pattern.

The dispute began as a series of complaints filed with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by an apartment seeker, together with the Intermountain Fair Housing Council—the latter a private, not-for-profit fair housing entity based in Boise, Idaho. HUD in turn looked into the allegations and laid a charge of discrimination against the developer. The complainants named in the HUD charge elected to have their case heard in federal court.

HUD referred the case to the US Department of Justice.

The lawsuit seeks monetary damages and civil penalties, as well as a court order requiring the correction of violations.

Such a discrimination lawsuit is indicative of the priority placed by the Department of Justice as it relates to illegal discrimination in housing. To that end, the federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based, in part, on disability. Thus, this latest case in discrimination law will soon be heard in a federal court of law.