WKSU News: HUD accuses Kent State of housing discrimination involving a service dog

Tuesday, August 19, 2014 HUD accuses Kent State of housing discrimination involving a service dog The case began with a complaint filed by a student in 2010 by WKSU's TIM RUDELL	Reporter Tim Rudell

Kent State students walking on the south side of the main campus

Courtesy of KSU

Kent State University has been charged by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development with a Fair Housing Act Violation. The case has to do with the definition of a “service animal.” WKSU’s Tim Rudell reports.

HUD says Kent State engaged in housing discrimination when it refused to allow a student with a disability to keep an “emotional support” dog in a university-owned apartment. The student’s doctor had written a letter verifying the therapeutic need for the dog to help with managing anxiety.

Second case nationally
HUD spokesperson Shantee Goode told WKSU that this is the first time HUD HQ in DC a charge has been brought against a public university since a 2011 case involving the University of Nebraska at Kearny opened the door for such legal action.

In that case a federal judge ruled that campus housing is not exempt from the Fair Housing Act, and HUD argued that “FHA” protects the rights of students with disabilities to have service animals -- whether for commonly recognized assistance with things like blindness or deafness, or for something like emotional support.”

Kent State spokesman Eric Mansfield said the university is aware of the charges stemming from the claims made several years ago and will comment on the facts of the case at the appropriate time.