TRENTON, N.J. (Legal Newsline) – New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal and the Division on Civil Rights announced May 23 that they settled two separate disability discrimination cases that involved residents who were denied medically-prescribed support dogs by their housing complexes.
The defendants in the case are Harbortown Sail, a residential complex in Perth Amboy, and Landmark East Corp., which owns and operates a housing complex in Ridgefield Park. To resolve the allegations, Harbortown Sail will pay $10,000 to its alleged victim and Landmark East Corp. will pay $16,000 to its alleged victim.
“These are fair settlements that resolve troubling cases – cases in which residents with a documented disability were treated in ‘hardball’ fashion by governing boards that apparently did not recognize the distinction between a pet and a clinically-prescribed emotional support animal,” Grewal said in a statement. “These cases should serve as a message to landlords – as well as the governing boards of condominiums and cop-ops across the state – that the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) was created to protect the rights of people with disabilities, including those who require service dogs and emotional support animals. We are committed to upholding the LAD.”
