Dist. Ct. erred in granting defendants-Homeowners’ Association’s president and his wife’s motion for summary judgment in plaintiffs-African-American homeowners’ action, alleging race discrimination and failure to accommodate one plaintiff’s post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) under Fair Housing Act (FHA) and section 1982, arising out of defendants’ encounters with plaintiff, during which defendants used racial slurs while telling plaintiffs that they were not welcome in neighborhood controlled by Homeowners’ Association (HOA), and where HOA denied one plaintiff’s request to build privacy fence to accommodate his PTSD. Plaintiffs provided enough evidence of discriminatory intent to withstand summary judgment with respect to FHA claim, where: (1) section 3617 of FHA prohibits interference with plaintiffs’ exercise or enjoyment of their property; and (2) defendants’ use of racial slurs, by calling plaintiffs “you people,” “black bitch,” “black n*****,” and “little monkey n*****” established discriminatory intent in effort to interfere with plaintiffs’ enjoyment of their property and to have them leave neighborhood. Also, fact that defendants were current and past presidents of HOA had relevance to plaintiffs’ perception of lack of safety in their home. Same evidence also supported plaintiffs’ section 1982 claim against these defendants. Dist. Ct., though, could properly grant HOA’s summary judgment motion as to both claims, where: (1) there was no evidence to show that defendants-president of HOA and his wife were acting on behalf of HOA when uttering racial slurs; and (2) with respect to plaintiff’s disability claim, plaintiff failed to show that HOA was aware of his PTSD at time of denial of plaintiff’s request for privacy fence.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Fair Housing Act