Bloch v. Frischholz, No. 06-3376

In plaintiffs' Fair Housing Act (FHA) suit against their condo association for being required to remove a mezuzah from their doorpost under a new rule requiring that common hallways and outside of the doors be kept free of any objects, district court's grant of summary judgment in favor the condo association and its president is reversed for the most part where: 1) the judgment of the district court with respect to plaintiffs' claims under sections 3604(b), 3617 and 1982 is reversed as a trier of fact could conclude that the condo association's  reinterpretation of the hallway rule and clearing of all objects from doorposts was intended to target only group of residents for which the prohibited practice was religiously required; 2) plaintiffs can therefore proceed on an intentional discrimination theory under sections 3604(b), 3617 and 1982; and 3) district court's judgment granting summary judgment against the plaintiffs on their section 3604(a) claim is affirmed.   

Read Bloch v. Frischholz, No. 06-3376

Appellate Information

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division

Decided November 13, 2009

Judges

Before:  Easterbrook, Chief Judge, and Bauer, Kanne, Wood, Evans, Sykes, Tinder and Posner, Circuit Judges

Opinion by Tinder, Circuit Judge