In a groundbreaking decision, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a landlord may be held liable under the Fair Housing Act for failing to protect a tenant from known, discriminatory harassment at the hands of other tenants, reinstating Lambda Legal’s federal lawsuit on behalf of lesbian senior, Marsha Wetzel, against Glen St. Andrew Living Community in Niles, Illinois. The suit claims that the facility failed to protect Wetzel, a resident of the facility, from harassment, discrimination and violence she has endured at the hands of other residents because of her sex and sexual orientation.

Lambda Legal filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on behalf of lesbian senior, Marsha Wetzel, against Glen St. Andrew Living Community in Niles, Illinois, claiming the facility failed to protect Wetzel, a resident of the facility, from harassment, discrimination and violence she has endured at the hands of other residents because of her sex and sexual orientation.

Lambda Legal’s lawsuit brings claims under the federal Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex and the Illinois Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and sex. On remand from the Seventh Circuit, these claims will now proceed at the district court.