disparate impact

Murder or just a misunderstanding? The Fifth Circuit on disparate impact discrimination

March 3, 2021 By Richard Hunt in FHA Disparate Impact, FHA Statistics Tags: ADA defense, disparate impact, FHA, FHA Defense, Fifth Circuit, Heartland, Inclusive Communities Project, Lincoln Properties, robust causality, robust causation

ICP v Lincoln Properties and its “progeny.”

In the last days of the Trump administration HUD promulgated a new regulation concerning disparate impact claims under the Fair Housing Act whose intent was very clearly to make such claims difficult even to plead, let alone prove.¹ Its implementation remains stayed by a federal court, but in the Fifth Circuit that may not matter because earlier Fifth Circuit cases are even more restrictive. Prompted by the discussion in Treece v. Perrier Condo. Owners Assn., Inc., 2021 WL 533720 (E.D. La. Feb. 12, 2021) I decided to take a hard look at the Fifth Circuit’s decision in Inclusive Communities Project, Inc. v. Lincoln Prop. Co., 920 F.3d 890, 895 (5th Cir. 2019), cert. denied, 140 S. Ct. 2506 (2020). That turned out to be a bigger project than I expected, because as interpreted Lincoln Properties is incredibly restrictive, but those interpretations are almost certainly wrong. Clarification seems inevitable even with the existing conservative Supreme Court. Here’s why. More

Disparate Impact – Will it now apply to disability discrimination under the FHA?

June 28, 2015 By Richard Hunt in Accessibility Litigation Trends, ADA FHA General, Apartments, Condominiums, FHA, Landlord-tenant, Multi-Family, Policies and Procedures FHA ADA Tags: Apartments, Condominiums, disparate impact, FHA Litigation, FHA Policies, private lawsuits

On June 25 the Supreme Court held that FHA discrimination claims can be based on disparate impact. Texas Dep’t of Hous. & Cmty. Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc., 2015 WL 2473449, at *9 (U.S. June 25, 2015). At first blush this doesn’t seem to have much to do with accessibility claims. When we talk about the policies that discriminate against those with disabilities we usually look at 42 U.S.C. Section 3604(f)(3)(B), which requires reasonable accommodation; that is, exceptions to a policy because the policy has a disproportionate impact on those with disabilities. However, Inclusive Communities Project may have its own disparate impact on claims of disability discrimination. More