Fair Housing Amendments Act Creates Landlord Duty

Suits under the Fair Housing Amendments Act are becoming more common and are creating problems for landlords and condominium associations. Under the Act, a landlord has a obligation to "reasonably accommodate" tenants with disabilities. This could involve providing everything from providing a wheelchair tenant with a first floor apartment to allowing a tenant to keep her cat as therapy for a psychological disorder. The test for whether or not an accommodation is reasonable is whether it would be unduly burdensome to the landlord.

Why This Is Important . . . The trend represents a problem for landlords because of uncertainty as to which type of accommodations are "reasonable" and which would be considered "unduly burdensome" to landlords.

Discrimination Awards Reduced By "Collateral Sources"

In a recent case before the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, the court found that an award of future lost wages in a discrimination case brought under the Rehabilitation Act can be reduced by a "collateral source" such as a disability benefit. Under the ruling, the successful plaintiff's award was reduced by nearly $500,000 because the court decided that the plaintiff's veterans' disability and civil service retirement benefits would offset the amount of lost future wages.

Why This Is Important . . . Employers sued for discrimination should find out whether the employee will receive income such as pensions, unemployment compensation or disability insurance. Amounts from these sources can reduce an award of lost future or past earnings from the discrimination.

Forced Arbitration Of Employment Discrimination Disputes

In the past, the EEOC has encouraged alternative dispute resolution of employment discrimination cases. The EEOC has issued a new policy that suggests that the use of mandatory arbitration by employers as a condition of employment or a pre-employment condition to shut off an employee's access to the EEOC is unfair and impinges on the employee's due process rights. The policy stems from a U.S. District Court decision that revoked an employer's mandatory arbitration policy after the employer fired two female employees who refused to sign.

Why This Is Important . . . Terminating or refusing to hire employees who refuse to sign a mandatory arbitration provision can result in a suit against the employer by the EEOC.

Website Agreements

Many businesses are now testing internet marketing. One way is by creating an internet website. Active Nicolai Law Group clients have received memorandum outlining the issues to look for in negotiating an agreement for the creation of a website.