Can my landlord be held responsible for the discriminatory actions of other tenants against me (a tenant)?

The Ohio Supreme Court recently decided a case involving just that fact pattern. In the case, two families lived near each other in neighboring apartments at Van Buren Homes, a public housing development in Akron, Ohio. The housing development was managed by June Davidson and owned by the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority (AMHA). Apparently a feud had been going on between the two families for quite some time. The feud degenerated into one family, the Kaisk Clan, making racially derogatory remarks against the other family, the Harper Clan. The Harpers went to building management at the complex to complain about the racially derogatory remarks. As is usually the case, building management did nothing about the complaint.

When management did nothing to stop the problem, the Harpers went to the Ohio Civil Rights Commission (OCRC) and filed a complaint of housing discrimination with the OCRC against Davidson and the AMHA alleging unlawful discrimination based on race in violation of R.C. 4112.02(H)(4). Specifically, the Harpers claimed that they made management and the AMHA aware of the hostile racial harassment; that they had a duty to take corrective action, and that they (AMHA and Davidson) failed to take corrective action and thus, by allowing the harassment to go unchecked, approved continuation of the harassing conduct.

The trial court held in favor of Davidson and the AMHA and dismissed the complaint. The Ninth District Court of Appeals reversed the trial court and found that the trial court erred in not recognizing a cause of action for "hostile housing environment." The court of appeals held that the following elements were necessary to make a prima facie case for such a claim:

"(1) plaintiffs are members of a protected class,
(2) the harassment was unwelcome,
(3) the harassment was based on the plaintiffs' race,
(4) the harassment was sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the plaintiffs' living conditions and create an abusive environment, and
(5) either (a) the harassment was committed by a landlord or
(b) the landlord, through its agents or supervisory personnel, knew or should have known about the harassment and failed to take immediate and appropriate corrective action."

Davidson and the AMHA took the case to the Ohio Supreme Court. That Court reversed the ruling of the appeals court and held that an action for hostile housing environment does not exist to cover this fact scenario.

In other words, landlords are not responsible for one tenant's racial harassment of another tenant even if the landlord is made aware of that harassment. Landlords do not have to respond to such complaints by taking corrective action.

In contrast, employers can be held responsible for failing to take corrective action when an employee reports that another employee is racially harassing him or her. Landlords are not held to the same standard.

Disclaimer: The information provided on ohiolandlordtenant.com is not intended to be legal advice, but general information related to legal issues commonly encountered. The law in your state may be different from that discussed here. The facts in your case may be different too.

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