A federal appeals court ruled that an Illinois senior living facility can be held liable for failing to protect a lesbian resident from harassment, discrimination and violence, according to an article on The Hill website.
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out the district court’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit brought against Glen St. Andrew Living Community in Niles, Ill.
The resident alleged she was verbally and physically abused by residents for being a lesbian, and when she complained to the nursing home facility they retaliated against her for complaining, barring her from certain areas of the facility, halting her cleaning services and falsely accusing her of smoking in her room.
Chief Judge Diane Wood said the Fair Housing Act creates a liability when a landlord intentionally discriminates against a tenant based on a protected characteristic; it also creates liability against a landlord that has actual notice of tenant‐on-tenant harassment based on a protected status, yet chooses not to take any reasonable steps within its control to stop that harassment, she wrote.
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