Wetzel v. Glen St. Andrew Living Cmty., LLC, 901 F.3d 856 (2018)

Citation: Wetzel v. Glen St. Andrew Living Cmty., LLC, 901 F.3d 856 (2018)
Parent Document: Wetzel v. Glen St. Andrew Living Cmty., LLC, 901 F.3d 856 (2018)
Jurisdiction: United States (federal)
Effective Date: 2018-08-27
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/8443663/wetzel-v-glen-st-andrew-living-... ↗

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Because the text of the FHA does not spell out a test for landlord liability, we look to analogous anti-discrimination statutes for guidance. One natural point of reference is Title VII, which governs discrimination in employment. It and the FHA have been described as "functional equivalent[s]" to be "given like construction and application." Kyles v. J.K. Guardian Sec. Servs., Inc. , 222 F.3d 289, 295 (7th Cir. 2000) ; see also Texas Dep't of Hous. & Cmty. Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc. , --- U.S. ----, 135 S.Ct. 2507, 2516, 192 L.Ed.2d 514 (2015) (comparing section 3604(a) of the FHA to Title VII); Bloch , 587 F.3d at 779 (noting that section 3604(b) mirrors Title VII). The Supreme Court's interpretation of Title VII's parallel section is illuminating. That section makes it unlawful "to discriminate against any individual ... because of ... sex." 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1). Under operative language in Title VII identical to that of the 42 U.S.C. § 3604(b), an employer may be liable under some circumstances when its own negligence is a cause of prohibited harassment. Burlington Indus. , 524 U.S. at 758-59, 118 S.Ct. 2257. Indeed, "when Congress uses the same language in two statutes having similar purposes, particularly when one is enacted shortly after the other, it is appropriate to presume that Congress intended that text to have the same meaning in both statutes." Smith v. City of Jackson , 544 U.S. 228, 233, 125 S.Ct. 1536, 161 L.Ed.2d 410 (2005). The FHA followed Title VII by four years. See Civil Rights Act of 1964 § 703; Civil Rights Act of 1968 § 804. St. Andrew provides no reason why the FHA requires in all instances that the defendant acted with discriminatory animus when an identically worded statute has not been read in such a manner. As a textual matter, we see none.

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