Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-5_04-cv-04320/USCOURTS-cand-5_04-cv-04320-1/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 443
Nature of Suit: Civil Rights Accommodations
Cause of Action: 42:405 Fair Housing Act

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Kerstin Arusha, Bar # 182624 

Annette Kirkham, Bar # 217958 

LFSV FAIR HOUISNG LAW PROJECT 

Alison Brunner, Bar # 180979 

Whitney B. Huston, Bar # 234863 

LFSV AIDS LEGAL SERVICES 

111 W. St. John, Suite 315 

San Jose, CA 95113 

Telephone: (408) 280-2410 

Fax: (408) 293-0106 

Attorneys for Plaintiffs Barbara and Richard Wood 

D. Scott Chang, Bar # 146403 

RELMAN & ASSOCIATES LLC 

1225 19th Street NW, Suite 600 

Washington DC 20036 

Telephone: (202) 728-1888 

Facsimile: (202) 728-0848 

Attorney for Plaintiff Project Sentinel 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

(San Jose) 

BARBARA WOOD, et al., 

 Plaintiffs, 

 v. 

HELPING HANDS SANCTUARY OF 

IDAHO, INC. et al., 

 

 Defendants. 

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Case No. C04-04320 RS 

CONSENT DECREE 

This action was brought by Plaintiff Barbara Wood, as representative of the estate of 

decedent Edna Murillo as well as an individual Plaintiff, Richard Wood, and Project Sentinel, 

a California not-for-profit organization, against Defendants, Helping Hands Sanctuary of 

Idaho, Inc., Oak Meadows Extended Care Center (“Oak Meadows”), Terreno Gardens 

Extended Care (“Terreno Gardens”), Maria Maier and Allison Scott. Plaintiffs’ alleged, inter 

Wood, et al. v. Helping Hands Sanctuary of Idaho, et al. – Case No. C04 04320

CONSENT DECREE 

*E-FILED 9/21/05*
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alia, that Defendants violated the federal Fair Housing Amendments Act, California’s Fair 

Employment and Housing Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the 

Americans with Disabilities Act, and California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, by

engaging in discriminatory housing practices based on disability or handicap. Defendants 

deny the allegations asserted by Plaintiffs in this action and deny any liability or wrongdoing 

on their part. 

Because the parties desire to avoid further litigation, at a mediation attended by the 

parties on July 8, 2005, the parties agreed to resolve all outstanding claims by consenting to 

the terms of this Consent Decree. This Consent Decree shall not constitute any admission of 

liability or wrongdoing by Defendants. This Consent Decrees constitutes a final judgment 

binding on all parties in this action. 

Plaintiffs and Defendants have consented to the entry of this Consent Decree. The 

Court will retain jurisdiction to enforce the terms of the Consent Decree. 

It is hereby ordered, adjudged and decreed that: 

1. Defendants shall make the payment of $52,500 to the “Attorney-Client Trust Account 

of the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley.” This payment is inclusive of and represents all 

monetary payments to be made by Defendants to Plaintiffs, including attorneys’ fees and 

costs. The payment schedule is as follows: 

A. An initial payment of $10,000 will be paid within 15 days of the execution of 

this Consent Decree. 

B. Monthly payments of $7,083.33 will be paid in installments, with the total 

amount of the settlement to be paid in full within 7 months of the execution of 

this Consent Decree. Defendants have a 10-day grace period on each 

payment. 

2. In addition, Defendants have agreed to other terms of injunctive relief. The 

injunctive terms of the agreement will be in place for three years, starting with the date of the 

entry of the Consent Decree. The injunctive terms of the agreement will expire three years 

Wood, et al. v. Helping Hands Sanctuary of Idaho, et al. – Case No. C04 04320

CONSENT DECREE 
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from the date of entry of the consent decree. Specifically, Defendants will do the following 

things: 

A. Defendants will adopt a written policy to be included in their admission 

materials, to be distributed to all current residents, future residents and future 

applicants that indicates clearly that persons with HIV disease and AIDS will 

not be discriminated against by Oak Meadows and Terreno Gardens. 

B. Defendants will post fair housing posters on the premises in a conspicuous

place at Oak Meadows and Terreno Gardens. 

C. Defendants will provide training for their employees who are involved in the 

admissions process, who may be called to meet with potential residents or 

family members inquiring about resident admission, and employees who may 

provide care for residents. Defendants will have full discretion in selecting 

the appropriate employees for the appropriate training, but the employees to 

be trained will, at least, include the Administrator, Directors of Nursing, 

Admission Coordinators, Social Services personnel, Nurse Manager and 

Charge Nurses. The trainings to be conducted are as follows: 

i. Terreno Gardens and Oak Meadows employees, as described above in 

this section, will attend trainings on caring for persons with HIV and 

AIDS by a health care provider to occur within 60 days of settlement. 

Defendants Terreno Gardens and Oak Meadows employees also agree 

that all new employees, as described in the above section, will attend a 

training within 30 days of being hired by Defendants. 

ii. Terreno Gardens and Oak Meadows employees, as described above in 

this section, will attend a fair housing training presented by Project 

Sentinel at their cost. The first training will occur within 60 days of

the entry of the consent decree, the second will occur within two years 

after the entry of the Consent Decree and the third will occur within 

three years after the entry of the Consent Decree. The terms and 

Wood, et al. v. Helping Hands Sanctuary of Idaho, et al. – Case No. C04 04320

CONSENT DECREE 
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location of the training will be resolved between Plaintiff Project 

Sentinel and Defendants. 

D. Defendants agree not to discriminate on the basis of HIV or AIDS. 

E. Project Sentinel will monitor Defendants through testing five times within the 

next three years. Defendants will pay $500 per test to Project Sentinel for this 

monitoring and will be informed of the results. Any perceived violation will 

be discussed and resolved informally, and, if necessary, may be enforced 

through the consent decree. 

F. Defendants, within a reasonable period of time, will notify the Law 

Foundation of Silicon Valley of any complaints, allegations, or lawsuits 

regarding violation of the fair housing or HIV/AIDS discrimination laws 

during the three years following the signing of the Consent Decree. Plaintiffs 

and the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley agree that they will not publicize 

any such complaints, allegations or lawsuits, will not disseminate this 

information and will not use such information to solicit clients or aid any 

complainants in their grievance against Defendants. The agreement to notify 

the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley is solely for the purpose of fostering ongoing compliance with this Consent Decree. Any violation will be discussed 

and resolved informally, and, if necessary, may be enforced through the 

consent decree. 

G. Plaintiffs agree to disclose information about this matter only under the 

following conditions: 

i. Plaintiff Project Sentinel and the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley 

may provide a brief description of the case, including the case

name and amount and terms of settlement for funding purposes and 

for use as comparables in future cases. 

ii. For purposes of training and education, including the Law 

Foundation of Silicon Valley’s website, Plaintiffs may provide a 

Wood, et al. v. Helping Hands Sanctuary of Idaho, et al. – Case No. C04 04320

CONSENT DECREE 
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longer description of the case which will not identify Defendants, 

the case name or number, or any other specific identifying 

information. 

iii. Plaintiffs will share information, as necessary, for trainings and 

with other fair housing organizations. In addition, as Plaintiff 

Project Sentinel provides training to organizations and businesses, 

if Project Sentinel uses the facts of this action during such a 

training, any reference to this action will not identify any of the 

Defendants by name or disclose any identifying information. 

3. Plaintiffs warrant that they have no other claims against Defendants and desire to 

release Defendants from all claims arising out of and related to the allegations in their action 

short title, Wood, et al. v. Helping Hands Sanctuary of Idaho, et al. (USDC Case No. C04-

04320 RS). 

A. Plaintiffs warrant and represent that they have considered the possibility of

claims arising in the future in relation to the denial of admission of Edna 

Murillo to Oak Meadow and Terreno Gardens in January 2003 and the alleged 

denials through Project Sentinel testing in 2003, and have considered the 

possibility of claims arising in the future from these incidents that are 

unknown or unsuspected by them at this time. Plaintiffs intend to release and 

forever discharge Defendants and their assigns and successors in interest from

all claims they may have that are unknown or unsuspected by them. 

B. Plaintiffs understand and for valuable consideration hereby expressly waive 

and relinquish all of the rights and benefits of section 1542 of the California 

Civil Code which section reads as follows: 

A GENERAL RELEASE DOES NOT EXTEND TO CLAIMS 

WHICH THE CREDITOR DOES NOT KNOW OR 

SUSPECT TO EXIST IN [THEIR] FAVOR AT THE TIME 

OF EXECUTING THE RELEASE, WHICH IS KNOWN BY 

[THEM] MUST HAVE MATERIALLY AFFECTED [THEIR] 

SETTLEMENT WITH THE DEBTOR. 

Wood, et al. v. Helping Hands Sanctuary of Idaho, et al. – Case No. C04 04320

CONSENT DECREE 
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Plaintiffs each expressly declare and represent that they read this Paragraph 

3(B), fully understand the effect this waiver of the rights and benefits of Civil 

code section 1542, and knowingly, freely and voluntarily waive and relinquish 

such rights and benefits. To the extent permitted by applicable law, the 

release and waiver set forth above is valid and binding whether the claims and 

rights release and waived arise under any federal, state or local statute, 

regulation or ordinance, under the common law or in equity or under any 

policy, agreement, understanding, or promise, written or oral, formal or 

informal. 

C. Plaintiffs agree that this Consent Decree is made specifically in exchange for 

release of any and all legal claims in this action, as well as any and all legal 

claims Plaintiffs have, may have had, or will have against all of the 

Defendants and their respective related entities, including but not limited to 

any claims in any way connected with any transactions, occurrences, acts, 

omissions, loss damage or injury whatsoever resulting from any act 

committed or omission made prior to the date of this Consent Decree. 

4. This Order shall be in effect for a period of three years from the date of entry of the 

Consent Decree. This action is to be dismissed with prejudice as to all Defendants, however, 

the Court will retain jurisdiction to enforce the terms of the Consent Decree. 

5. The parties agree to attempt to work out in good faith any disputes that arise under the 

terms of this Consent Decree. Only after good faith mediation attempts have been exhausted 

will the parties request the assistance of the Court in resolving the dispute. 

It is so ordered. 

Dated: 

 Honorable Richard Seeborg 

 United States Magistrate Judge 

Wood, et al. v. Helping Hands Sanctuary of Idaho, et al. – Case No. C04 04320

CONSENT DECREE 

9/21/05 /s/ Richard Seeborg
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Approved as to content and form: 

 Dated: September 21, 2005 AIDS LEGAL SERVICES

 /s/ 

Whitney Huston 

Attorney for Plaintiffs Barbara and 

Richard Wood 

RELMAN & ASSOCIATES 

/s/_________________________________ 

D. Scott Chang 

Attorney for Plaintiff Project Sentinel

LEWIS BRISBOIS BISGAARD & SMITH 

/s/_________________________________ 

Rhea Mariano 

Attorney for Defendants 

Wood, et al. v. Helping Hands Sanctuary of Idaho, et al. – Case No. C04 04320

CONSENT DECREE