The case against the University of Nebraska-Kearney involved disputed claims alleging UNK violated the Fair Housing Act by not allowing assistance animals in university housing.
The case is a landmark one because new policies agreed to under the consent order allows UNK to verify whether the individual making the request has an actual disability, if the accommodation is actually necessary for the individual’s disability, and if it is reasonable for the student to have the animal in a university residence hall.(DOJ initially argued that these types of inquiries were illegal and represented evidence of intentional discrimination.)
UNK’s could serve as a model policy for campuses across the country. It contains several important provisions that address concerns that have arisen because of the differences between campus residence halls and conventional apartments; those provisions go far beyond HUD guidance in empowering a school to take into account the interests of other residents, the size of the animal, the danger it may pose, and requirements for its care and supervision, and to limit access of the animal to common areas within the residence hall.
In a press release on September 3, 2015 UNK and the Justice Department announced that a consent decree had been signed. UNK agreed to:
- pay $140,000 to two former students who sought and were denied reasonable accommodations to keep assistance animals in their university apartments; and
- change its housing policy to allow persons with psychological disabilities to keep animals with them in university housing where such animals provide necessary therapeutic benefits to such students.
UNK Consent Order 9/3/15
UNK Assistance Animal Policy (2015)
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