Douglas v. Kriegsfeld Corp., 884 A.2d 1109 (2005)

Citation: Douglas v. Kriegsfeld Corp., 884 A.2d 1109 (2005)
Parent Document: Douglas v. Kriegsfeld Corp., 884 A.2d 1109 (2005)
Jurisdiction: DC (municipal)
Effective Date: 2005-10-13
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1472683/douglas-v-kriegsfeld-corp/ ↗
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[22] Although neither statutory language in the Fair Housing Act nor its implementing regulations expressly require an "interactive process" for resolving requests for reasonable accommodations, several courts have indicated that the Act's statutory scheme inherently imposes such a requirement. Jankowski Lee & Assocs. v. Cisneros, 91 F.3d 891, 895 (7th Cir.1996) (if landlord is "skeptical of" tenant's alleged disability or landlord's ability to provide accommodation, "it is incumbent upon [ ] landlord to request documentation or open a dialogue"); Jacobs v. Concord Vill. Condo. X Ass'n, Inc., No. 04-60017-CIV, 2004 WL 741384, at *2, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4876, at *5 (D.Fla. Feb. 17, 2004) (same); Armant v. Chat-Ro Co., L.L.C., No. 00-1402, 2000 WL 1092838, at *2, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11386, at *6 (E.D.La. Aug. 1, 2000) (quoting Jankowski Lee & Assocs. and further holding that once apprised of possible handicap, landlord has duty to inquire or investigate further); Auburn Woods I Homeowners Ass'n. v. Fair Employment & Hous. Comm'n., (2004) 121 Cal.App.4th 1578, 1598 [18 Cal.Rptr.3d 669, 683] (quoting Jankowski Lee & Assocs. and further holding that obligation to "open a dialogue" with party requesting reasonable accommodation is part of interactive process in which each party seeks and shares information); Cornwell & Taylor LLP v. Moore, 2000 WL 1887528, at *4, 2000 Minn.App. LEXIS 1317, at *11 (Minn.App.Div. Dec. 22, 2000) (quoting Jankowski Lee & Assocs.); Cobble Hill Apts. Co., 1999 Mass.App. Div. at 169 (the fact that tenant's reasonable accommodation request is neither specific nor suitable "does not relieve landlord from making one, particularly when tenant is handicapped by mental disability"). Compare Andover Hous. Auth. v. Shkolnik, 443 Mass. 300, 820 N.E.2d 815 (2005) (housing authority did not violate "reasonable accommodation" requirement when evicting excessively noisy tenant, because housing authority had "made every effort to engage in an interactive process for ascertaining and accommodating [tenant's] condition" while tenants "impeded the authority's efforts to engage in a full interactive dialogue" by denying "that there was an ongoing and excessive noise problem"). See generally Jennifer L. Dolak, Note: The FHAA's Reasonable Accommodation & Direct Threat Provisions as Applied to Disabled Individuals Who Become Disruptive, Abusive, or Destructive in Their Housing Environment, 36 IND. L. REV. 759 (2003). The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has also taken this position. See HUD v. Jankowski Lee & Assocs., HUDALJ XX-XX-XXXX-X (June 30, 1995) (once informed of possibility that tenant may need accommodation, landlord has responsibility to explore that need and suggest accommodations). The HUD-DOJ Joint Statement explicitly calls for an "interactive process" in which the landlord and tenant "discuss the [tenant's] disability-related need for the requested accommodation and possible alternative accommodations," in the hope of negotiating "an effective accommodation for the [tenant] that does not pose an undue financial and administrative burden for the [landlord]." Joint Statement 7; see id. 9. Finally, when courts apply the reasonable accommodation provision of the Fair Housing Act, it is their established practice to rely on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101, 12102, and the Rehabilitation Act (RA), 29 U.S.C. § 794, both of which mandate an interactive process through which employers and employees explore what accommodations are reasonable. See 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(o)(3) (1995); 29 C.F.R. pt. 1630 Appendix (1996); 29 U.S.C. § 794(d); Giebeler, 343 F.3d at 1156-57 (stating that court ordinarily applies RA case law in applying reasonable accommodation provisions of Fair Housing Act and also generally applies RA and ADA case law "interchangeably"); Good Shepherd Manor Found., Inc. v. City of Momence, 323 F.3d 557, 561 (7th Cir.2003) (holding that Fair Housing Act requirements for showing failure to reasonably accommodate are same as those under ADA); Shapiro, 51 F.3d at 335 ("reasonable accommodation" was intended to draw on case law under RA); Erdman v. City of Fort Atkinson, 84 F.3d 960, 962 (7th Cir.1996) ("reasonable accommodation" requirement of Fair Housing Act is most often interpreted by analogy to same phrase in RA). The case law that the landlord relies on is factually distinguishable. See Lapid-Laurel v. Zoning Bd. of Adjustment, 284 F.3d 442, 455 (3rd Cir.2002) (holding that Fair Housing Act imposes no duty on local land use authorities to engage in informal interactive process with applicants for variance because those authorities "already face detailed state and municipal requirements mandating formal procedures, which, at least in some cases, prohibit them from engaging in informal, off-the-record negotiations"); Groner, 250 F.3d at 1047 (holding that landlord violated no duty to engage in dialogue with social worker when landlord had already been in close contact with social worker for months).
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