US court says Housing Act covers harassed LGBT tenant in Niles
CHICAGO — A federal appeals court found that the U.S. Fair Housing Act places obligations on landlords to protect LGBT tenants from harassment by other tenants.
The new ruling by the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Court of Appeals, posted late Monday, sides with 70-year-old Marsha Wetzel. She accused a suburban Chicago senior living center of doing nothing to stop other residents from hurling homophobic slurs at her, spitting on her and even striking her because of her sexual orientation.
The unanimous, 20-page ruling by the three-judge panel reverses a lower-court judge who tossed Wetzel’s lawsuit against the Glen Saint Andrew Living Community in Niles.
