CREA Settles Housing, Employment Discrimination Complaints

As part of its ongoing efforts to prevent unlawful discrimination in the City of St. Louis, the St. Louis Civil Rights Enforcement Agency (CREA) will highlight some of its successful settlements and conciliations relative to complaints either referred by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, U. S. Housing and Urban Development or direct filing by residents or employees working within the City of St. Louis. While CREA is authorized under Ordinance 67119 to handle a variety of complaints alleging discrimination, the greatest number of complaints falls within the areas of employment and housing.

Following are complaints resolved through settlement or conciliation efforts by agency staff members:

EMPLOYMENT COMPLAINTS

• An employee, who worked as an inside salesperson for employer beauty supply company, relied upon the use of a walking cane. The employer subsequently terminated the employee citing as the reason the employee’s use of the cane. The employee filed a complaint with CREA alleging she was discriminated against because of her disability in that the employer had denied her a reasonable accommodation, the use of a walking cane in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Agency negotiated a settlement agreement whereby the employee received $5,000 in damages. She declined to accept reemployment.

• A recently terminated employee of a local transit company alleged he
was terminated because of his age. He claimed the employer provided younger employees three or more opportunities to meet training requirements
while providing him only two opportunities in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, as amended. Under a negotiated settlement agreement, the employer reinstated the aggrieved employee to his position as electrician, paid $16,198.08 in back pay and provided the employee an equitable opportunity to meet required training standards.

As an overall policy consideration, the employer agreed to reassess its training
practices to assure all employees are provided equal opportunity to progress
through the training tiers and other qualifying requirements regardless of age or other prohibited bases.

• Complainant in this case applied for a cashier position with employer fast food restaurant indicating on his application a disability which prevented him from standing for long periods of time and would require an accommodation in his work schedule for brief intermittent sitting. The applicant was not hired and the
employee filed a complaint alleging discrimination under the Americans with
Disabilities Act. A negotiated settlement with the employer resulted in the
Applicant being hired as a cashier and the complaint was withdrawn.

HOUSING COMPLAINTS

• A tenant with children resided in a federally subsidized multi-family apartment building located in the near south side of the City of St. Louis. She was incarcerated for failing to appear in court and had her sister move into her apartment to care for her children. The landlord filed eviction proceedings alleging the tenant had abandoned the rental unit in violation of her lease
agreement. The tenant alleged discrimination on the basis of her familial status, a violation of the Fair Housing Act and Ordinance 67119. The agency negotiated
a conciliation agreement whereby the landlord agreed to pay the tenant an amount
equal to the security deposit for another housing opportunity tenant had identified,
$250.

• A tenant residing in a 24-unit complex located in South St. Louis City alleged her landlord refused to make reasonable repairs to her unit. She also claimed the landlord segregated tenants of Iraqi ancestry in one section of the apartment complex and tenants of American, Ethiopian and Asian ancestry were housed in another section of the complex. Violating the federal Fair Housing Act and St. Louis City Ordinance 67119. She further alleged the section where she resided was in need of numerous repairs as compared to the Iraqi section that was in better condition. The agency negotiated a conciliation agreement whereby the landlord, his property manager and maintenance personnel agreed to attend a HUD-approved fair housing training conducted by CREA staff; pay the aggrieved tenant the sum of $1,000 to cover damages to her property as a result of negligent repairs; address maintenance concerns; report completion of repairs to CREA within 90 days and report the name, race, national origin and unit number of the next ten applicants approved for tenancy for monitoring purposes.

• In this case, a female tenant alleged she was being discriminated against on the basis of her sex in violation of the Fair Housing Act and Ordinance 67119 because her landlord, owner of a 77-unit apartment complex located in midtown St. Louis City required her to enter into a 14-month lease whereas male tenants were permitted to enter into 6-month and 12-month lease agreements. Under the terms of the conciliation agreement the landlord allowed the complainant to amend her lease agreement without penalty.

The aforementioned settlement/conciliation agreements were voluntary and decreed a full settlement of the disputed complaints. In each case, the respondents’ willingness to enter into a settlement/conciliation agreement did not constitute an admission of liability.

CREA