The Ohio House, LLC v. City of Costa Mesa, 135 F.4th 645 (2024)

Citation: The Ohio House, LLC v. City of Costa Mesa, 135 F.4th 645 (2024)
Parent Document: The Ohio House, LLC v. City of Costa Mesa, 135 F.4th 645 (2024)
Jurisdiction: United States (federal)
Effective Date: 2024-12-04
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10287865/the-ohio-house-llc-v-city-of-c... ↗

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participated in a protected activity [by] ‘aid[ing] or
encourag[ing]’. . . [the protected class] in the exercise of
their fair housing rights.” (alterations in original) (quoting
42 U.S.C. § 3617)). And the City does not dispute that Ohio
House proved this element, nor does it challenge the scope
of Ohio House’s protected activity on appeal.
     Second, Ohio House established that it suffered “adverse
action.” “Interference” with the exercise of rights bestowed
by the FHA is an adverse action. Walker, 272 F.3d at 1128–
29. It is undisputed that the City took enforcement action and
imposed fines against Ohio House, denied Ohio House’s
reasonable-accommodation request, and filed a nuisance
action against Ohio House to shut down its operations
because it did not have a conditional-use permit. These
actions impede Ohio House’s ability to provide housing for
its clients and, as such, come within the FHA’s broad use of
term “interference.” Morris, 104 F.4th at 1143; see also City
of Hayward, 36 F.3d at 835.
    The third element—causation—is where Ohio House
has trouble. The district court did not err in concluding that
Ohio House failed to prove a causal link between its
protected activity of providing sober-living housing and the
City’s actions that impeded that activity. Brown, 336 F.3d at
1192.
    We have explained that the manner in which plaintiffs
must prove causation at the prima-facie stage turns on
whether the plaintiff asserts that the defendant retaliated
against plaintiff due to its activity or asserts that the
defendant interfered with plaintiff’s activity under § 3617
due to discriminatory intent. For example, in Walker, we
analyzed a § 3617 retaliation claim and considered whether
“an independent fair housing services provider engaged in
38        THE OHIO HOUSE, LLC V. CITY OF COSTA MESA

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