The
Justice Department announced today that it has reached a settlement
that resolves allegations that the owners and managers of a continuing
care retirement community known as Sedgebrook violated the Fair Housing
Act by instituting policies and maintaining practices that discriminated
against residents with disabilities at the facility, which is located
in Lincolnshire, Illinois.
The proposed settlement, which still must be approved by the court,
was filed today, along with a complaint, in the United States District
Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The complaint alleges that
since 2011, Sedgebrook has instituted a series of policies that
prohibited, and then limited, residents’ ability to dine in the communal
dining rooms of the independent living wing of the facility if they
required assistance eating due to a disability. Additionally, the
complaint alleges that Sedgebrook maintained a policy prohibiting
residents of the independent living wing from hiring live-in caregivers
and refused to grant reasonable accommodations to that policy that would
have allowed Sedgebrook residents with disabilities to use and enjoy
their apartments.
Under the settlement, Sedgebrook will pay $210,000 into a settlement
fund to compensate residents and family members who were harmed by these
policies. Sedgebrook will also pay a $45,000 civil penalty to the
United States. In addition, Sedgebrook will appoint a Fair Housing Act
compliance officer and will implement a new dining and events policy, a
new policy applicable to residents’ private employment of caregivers,
and a new reasonable accommodation policy. Additionally, Life Care
Services LLC, the company that manages Sedgebrook and is a named
defendant in the lawsuit, will take steps to implement similar policies
at the over 100 independent living and continuing care retirement
communities it owns or manages across the country.
“This consent order will ensure that all residents with disabilities
at Sedgebrook are treated equally and that residents are able to get the
assistance they need in the dining room and in the other central areas
of their lives,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita
Gupta, head of the Civil Rights Division. “We are very pleased with
the steps Life Care Services and Sedgebrook are taking to embrace new,
non-discriminatory policies and help make them the standard,
industry-wide.”
“Equal opportunities must be afforded to individuals who require
assistance due to a disability,” said U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Fardon of
the Northern District of Illinois. “The proposed settlement represents
a significant step towards ensuring all members of the Sedgebrook
community are treated justly.”
Individuals who are entitled to share in the settlement fund will be
identified through a process established in the consent order. Persons
who believe they were subjected to unlawful discrimination at Sedgebrook
should contact the Justice Department toll-free at 1-800-896-7743
mailbox #995, or e-mail the Justice Department at
fairhousing@usdoj.gov (link sends e-mail).
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing
based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, and
familial status. More information about the Civil Rights Division and
the laws it enforces is available at
www.justice.gov/crt.
Individuals who believe that they may have been victims of housing
discrimination can call the Justice Department at 1-800-896-7743 and
leave a message at mailbox #995, e-mail the Justice Department at
fairhousing@usdoj.gov (link sends e-mail), or contact the Department of Housing and Urban Development at 1-800-669-9777 or through its website at
http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp.
