HUD: DALLAS HOUSING AUTHORITY ENGAGED IN DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION

摘要

HUD has issued findings that the Housing Authority of Dallas, TX (DHA), discriminated against a tenant with a disability by failing to provide a reasonable accommodation and seeking to evict her. Specifically, the DHA failed to transfer a tenant with a mobility disability to a ground-floor unit, forcing her to leave her wheelchair and crawl up or down the stairs in order to access or leave her housing. "When the housing authority failed to provide this tenant with a ground floor unit, it violated her civil rights, subjected her to indignity, and interfered with her independent use and enjoyment of housing," said Jeanine Worden, HUD's Acting Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by public housing agencies and other recipients of HUD funding. Recipients must bring their programs, activities, and facilities into compliance with federal accessibility requirements. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits public entities from discriminating on the basis of disability in all services, activities, and programs, whether or not they receive federal funds.