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University of Nebraska Facing Disability Lawsuit

The University of Nebraska at Kearney is currently facing a disability lawsuit regarding housing discrimination. The U.S. Justice Department filed a housing discrimination claim Nov. 23 in the U.S. District Court for Nebraska against UNK claiming that workers illegally denied student Brittany Hamilton the opportunity to keep a therapy canine in her home to deal with depression and anxiety.

“We are going to be contesting the charges of discrimination in court,” said Curt Carlson, Vice Chancellor of University Relations. The claim seeks a court order barring future discrimination by UNK, monetary compensation and a civil penalty.

“The Fair Housing Act requires housing providers to give reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities so that all have equal housing opportunities. The Fair Housing Act also ensures that when people seek an accommodation, they are not required to disclose medical information that is overly intrusive and invasive in order to receive an accommodation,” said Thomas Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division in a Justice Department news release.

A couple months ago, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development claimed the college and five workers dishonored the Fair Housing Act and unlawfully inquired into the nature and level of Hamilton’s disability.
Hamilton claims she needed her pet, Butch, a four-pound miniature pinscher to deal with mood disorders and requested an exception to UNK’s no-pet policy under the housing act. Nevertheless, UNK denied her request, stating that the act didn’t apply to the college-owned apartment building and the student didn’t provide adequate paperwork that the animal was trained or certified as a service dog.

While living without Butch, Hamilton claimed she was unable to get much sleep, suffered from serious anxiety attacks and spent hours every night talking to her mother, almost every night, exercising breathing techniques and thought-control techniques in an attempt to control her anxiety. She was told, despite letters from her doctor, that she could not live in university housing with the pet since he was not classified as a service dog.