Webinar: Private, DOJ, and HUD Enforcement of the Fair Housing Act: Landlord Liability for Tenant-on-Tenant Harassment Based on a Protected Characteristic

A landlord who, without justification, enforces lease provisions in a manner that discriminates against a tenant because of the tenant’s race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin can be liable under the FHA. Both HUD and an increasing number of federal courts agree that liability also extends to a landlord for tenant-on-tenant discriminatory harassment when the landlord, without justification, fails to enforce lease provisions that could curtail or even end the harassment.  The landlord is not liable for the tenant’s misconduct, but for its own in failing to take reasonable steps to remedy discriminatory wrongdoing.  Landlords have pushed back against this use of the Fair Housing Act.  The Second Circuit has been divided enough on the question that it decided to rehear it en banc.

Sasha Samberg-Champion, Counsel at Relman, Dane & Colfax PLLC, will discuss FHA enforcement through a private lawsuit.  Mr. Samberg-Champion will specifically discuss his pending case in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, Francis v. Kings Park Manor, Inc.  In that case, the court will decide en banc whether a landlord can be liable under the FHA for failing to take action to stop another tenant from harassing him based on his race, despite being informed by Mr. Francis and local law enforcement and even though the landlord had intervened in prior situations regarding non-race related lease and law violations for other residents.

Elise Sandra Shore, Senior Trial Attorney in the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, Housing and Civil Enforcement Section, will discuss FHA enforcement by the DOJ and specifically address landlord liability in the context of sex discrimination and sexual harassment, including tenant-on-tenant harassment.

Jake Gray, Trial Attorney for Region IV of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of General Counsel will discuss FHA enforcement by HUD, who published its final rule codifying its longstanding FHA interpretation that housing providers should be held liable for tenant-on-tenant harassment under a negligence standard and without regard to whether the housing provider’s conduct was motivated by animus (“HUD’s 2016 Rule”).

Robin B. Wagner, Civil Rights Section/Division Chair-Elect, will moderate and provide further insights from her experiences serving as a cooperating attorney for the Fair Housing Centers of Metro Detroit and Southeast and Mid-Michigan.

Presented by the Civil Rights Law Section

Registration for this event is now closed.

About the Presenters:

Sasha Samberg-Champion, Counsel, Relman, Dane & Colfax PLLC

Sasha Samberg-Champion is Counsel at Relman, Dane & Colfax PLLC, where his practice concentrates on litigation under the Fair Housing Act and other civil rights laws. Mr. Samberg-Champion’s practice has covered a wide variety of civil rights topics, including fair housing and lending, employment and labor law, disability rights, LGBT rights, voting, immigration, affirmative action, and religious liberty. His recent matters include challenges to Department of Housing & Urban Development suspension of important civil rights regulations; municipal nuisance ordinances that cause tenants to be evicted because of police calls; and Uber’s inaccessibility to wheelchair users. Prior to joining Relman, Dane & Colfax, Mr. Samberg-Champion was a senior attorney in the Appellate Section of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.  In that capacity, he briefed and argued appeals in the U.S. courts of appeals, assisted the Office of the Solicitor General in the briefing of cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, and provided legal counsel to the Division’s trial sections, front office, and client agencies.  Previously, Mr. Samberg-Champion was an assistant solicitor general for the New York Attorney General’s Office, where he played a similar role. He has argued dozens of appeals in state and federal court and has been principal or supporting drafter of numerous briefs in trial and appellate courts, including several in the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Samberg-Champion is a graduate of Haverford College and Columbia Law School. He clerked for the Hon. Jed S. Rakoff of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and for the Hon. Robert A. Katzmann of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Prior to law school, Mr. Samberg-Champion spent four years as a reporter covering telecommunications and Internet regulation and legislation.

Elise Shore, Senior Trial Attorney, Housing & Civil Enforcement Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice

Elise Sandra Shore is a Senior Trial Attorney in the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, Housing and Civil Enforcement Section.  In that capacity, she investigates, litigates, and tries cases under various civil rights statutes, including the Fair Housing Act, Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Equal Credit and Opportunity Act.  Ms. Shore has also worked as a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section. Ms. Shore previously served as Southeast Regional Counsel in the Atlanta-based office of a national civil rights organization.  As Regional Counsel, she was responsible for the daily operation and management of the office.  She also led the office’s advocacy, outreach, and litigation efforts in the twelve-state Southeast region. Ms. Shore graduated from Georgetown University Law Center.  She clerked for the Hon. Jaime Pieras, Jr., in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico.  Prior to joining the Civil Rights Division, she worked as a Fulbright Scholar/Professor of Law in Central and South America, where she lectured and presented seminars on the U.S. legal system.

Jake Gray, Trial Attorney, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of General Counsel, Region IV

Jake Gray is a Trial Attorney in the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of General Counsel in Atlanta, Georgia.  As a HUD Trial Attorney, Mr. Gray is responsible for filing Fair Housing Charges of Discrimination with the HUD Office of Administrative Law Judges and litigating those cases if the parties do not elect to have the case heard in federal court.  Mr. Gray has tried cases involving disability, race, and familial status, and provides legal advice and assistance to HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.  As a HUD Trial Attorney, Mr. Gray also handles all aspects of HUD litigation, including programmatic compliance and real property law. Prior to serving as a Trial Attorney, Mr. Gray served as an Attorney-Advisor in HUD’s Office of General Counsel in San Francisco, California, where he conducted closings of HUD real estate transactions and provided legal guidance on single family housing, multifamily housing, public housing, and community planning and development.  Prior to that, Mr. Gray was an attorney in HUD’s Office of General Counsel’s Office of Legislation and Regulations in Washington, DC. Mr. Gray graduated from University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 2010, and received his undergraduate degree in Theology from Boston College.  Mr. Gray and his wife own and operate an organic farm south of Atlanta.

Moderated By:

Robin Wagner, Attorney, Pitt McGehee Palmer Bonanni & Rivers
Robin B. Wagner is an Attorney at Pitt McGehee Palmer Bonanni & Rivers. Robin is a passionate advocate deeply committed to helping her clients obtain justice. She is a straight shooter who works on a wide variety of employment discrimination and civil rights cases. Robin has a particular passion for fighting housing discrimination and serves as a cooperating attorney for the Fair Housing Centers of Metro Detroit and Southeast and Mid-Michigan. Before joining the firm, Robin served as a law clerk for the Hon. Judith E. Levy of the Eastern District of Michigan. Prior to clerking for Judge Levy, Robin clerked for the Hon. Michael H. Dolinger, ret. Magistrate Judge, Southern District of New York. Robin participates actively in the legal community, currently serving as Secretary of the Civil Rights Law Section of the National Federal Bar Association and co-Chair of the Civil Rights. A native of Baltimore and third-generation lawyer (mom, dad, grandmother and grandfather!), Robin graduated from DePaul University College of Law in 2014, summa cum laude and Order of the Coif, with a certificate in public interest law. Robin authored “Are Gay Rights Clearly Established? The Problem with the Qualified Immunity Doctrine,” 63 DePaul L. Rev. 869 (2014). Robin’s undergraduate degree is in East Asian Studies from Princeton University, and she earned her Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University. Robin is fluent in Mandarin and while she doesn’t have much opportunity to use her Chinese at the moment, during law school she volunteered as an interpreter for the Chinatown Legal Aid Clinic in Chicago and the National Immigrant Justice Center. For many years, she worked in higher education administration as an associate dean, dean and vice president at various institutions. Robin and her wife Sharon live in Ann Arbor, where Sharon is Professor and Chair of Architecture Programs at the University of Michigan. They enjoy playing golf together and traveling the world. Their recent adventures include Berlin, Prague, southwest China and Greece.

Registration

Registration for this event is now closed.

g or another accommodation in order to participate in this webinar, please contact meetings@fedbar.org at least 10 days before the event so we may make the necessary arrangements.

Cancellation Policy
No refunds will be made for cancellations received after the close of business on September 14, 2020. No-shows will be billed. Substitutions may be made at any time upon notification. Please contact Ariel White at awhite@fedbar.org with cancellation and/or substitution requests.

CLE

1 CLE Credit (60min state) / 1.2 CLE Credit (50min state)

Credit for these complimentary webinars will be processed/reported within 4-6 weeks of the webinar event date and available for credit in states that allow credit for live webinar presentations. Your bar number must be accurate in our database to receive credit.

Email Communication Policy

By registering for this event, you agree to receive email communications from the Federal Bar Association and affiliated sponsors of the program concerning event details, Continuing Legal Education certification, programming changes, upcoming events, surveys, and post-event communications.

Recording Disclaimer

By registering for an FBA webinar, you agree to the recording of audio and visual content presented during the live event and consent to subsequent use of the recording by the FBA. You agree that the recording is the sole property of the FBA and that the recording may be used by the FBA in any manner in its sole and absolute discretion. This recording may include questions and poll responses provided by you during the live event. If you do not consent to the recording and the FBA’s use of the same, do not register for the event.

If you have any questions regarding this program, please contact Caitlin Rider, Conference Manager.