Published January, 1991
Kelly v. Williams, Fair Housing - Fair Lending (P-H) ¶ 25,007 (H.U.D.A.L.J. 1991)
Alleging a violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA), the plaintiff sued his landlord after the landlord questioned him about his HIV status and then evicted him from his apartment. Having determined that people living with HIV/AIDS have a handicap for purposes of FHA protection, the judge concluded that because the defendant's minor children cleaned plaintiff's bathroom, the defendant had a legitimate reason to ask the plaintiff about his HIV status and, later, raise the direct threat exception to the FHA. However, although the inquiry into plaintiff's HIV status itself was allowable, its timing, content, and nature were not. As a result, the judge found that the defendant's actions did violate the FHA and awarded a small amount of compensatory damages for the plaintiff, as well as injunctive relief "to further the public interest in prevention of housing discrimination."
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