DRLC Wins Major Changes For Current And Former Tenants With Disabilities At The Alexandria Hotel
The Disability Rights Legal Center, McDermott Will & Emery LLP, Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, and the Western Center on Law and Poverty negotiated a broad-sweeping settlement in a lawsuit filed in December, 2007 on behalf of low-income tenants with disabilities at the century-old Alexandria Hotel in downtown Los Angeles (Woods, et al. v. Alexandria Housing Partners, L.P., et al., United States District Court of the Central District of California Case No. CV07-08262 MMM (JWJx)). The current and former tenants alleged that they suffered from unlawful displacement as well as shutoffs of heat, water and elevator service among other acts of disability discrimination. Defendants in the lawsuit included Alexandria Housing Partners (AHP), Logan Property Management (LPM), the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles (CRA/LA) and the City of Los Angeles. The plaintiffs are six current and four former residents of the Alexandria Hotel, and one organizational plaintiff, CANGRESS (LA CAN), a California non-profit corporation.
The settlement requires the CRA/LA to create a new In-Place Rehabilitation Policy to ensure that tenant protections are in place for future rehabilitation projects, establish stronger disability and reasonable accommodations policies, as well as strengthen its affirmative marketing requirements. In addition, eligible former tenants of the Alexandria who were displaced during renovation will receive a housing referral by the CRA/LA, and will receive a payment from a $400,000 settlement fund. AHP and LPM must also make a number of changes to accommodate tenants with disabilities at the Alexandria, including making accessibility modifications in common/public areas and certain units, providing accommodations to the plaintiffs, and adopting a reasonable accommodation/modification request procedure and non-discrimination policy for all tenants at the Alexandria. They must also meet habitability standards regarding elevator service, heat and water, and provide mitigation measures should utilities fail. The settlement also includes additional amounts for damages and attorneys’ fees totaling $550,000 from AHP and LPM and $25,000 each in attorneys' fees from the CRA/LA and the City of Los Angeles.
“This settlement is a great victory for all Alexandria Hotel tenants who were subjected to cruel and illegal practices, as well as being ignored and discredited by City officials at many levels. This victory illustrates what is possible when dedicated and organized tenants, public interest and pro bono lawyers and community-based organizations join forces for justice,” said Becky Dennison, co-director of the Los Angeles Community Action Network, the organizational plaintiff.