Opinion ID: 1388511
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: FEHA Authorizes the Commission to Award Emotional Distress Damages to the Victims of Housing Discrimination

Text: Segregated housing patterns, which frequently confine minority groups to substandard housing, persist in many areas in California and throughout the nation. (See Schwemm, Private Enforcement and the Federal Fair Housing Act (1988) 6 Yale L. & Pol'y Rev. 375, 384 [hereafter Private Enforcement and Fair Housing ].) Although low income undoubtedly prevents many minority group members from obtaining better housing, this case vividly demonstrates that discrimination on racial and other grounds continues to prevent individuals from obtaining housing they can well afford, a situation that Congress has recognized to be one of our most serious social problems. As one commentator has written, The involuntary ghetto is inimical to the American dream. (Kaplan, Discrimination in California Housing: The Need for Additional Legislation (1962) 50 Cal.L.Rev. 635, 643 [hereafter Discrimination in California Housing ].) And, as the United States Supreme Court has recognized, a landlord who discriminates against a rental applicant injures not just the applicant, but the whole community. ( Trafficante v. Metropolitan Life Ins. (1972) 409 U.S. 205, 211 [34 L.Ed.2d 415, 420, 93 S.Ct. 364].) FEHA declares that the practice of discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, marital status, national origin, or ancestry in housing accommodations is ... against public policy. (§ 12920.) As used in FEHA, the term housing accommodations includes virtually all real property intended to be used as a home or residence. (§ 12927, subd. (d).) Discrimination includes refusing to sell, rent, or lease; misrepresenting the availability of accommodations; providing segregated housing; and providing inferior terms, facilities, or services. (§ 12927, subd. (c).) FEHA's stated purpose is to eliminate such discriminatory practices. (§ 12920.) A person who has suffered housing discrimination can seek redress by filing a verified complaint with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (Department). (§ 12960.) The Department investigates the complaint and seeks to conciliate the dispute. (§§ 12963, 12963.7.) It then has two options: It may issue a right-to-sue letter permitting the complaining party to seek redress in a civil lawsuit (§ 12980, subd. (d)); or, when necessary and appropriate, it may issue an accusatory pleading initiating a hearing before the Commission (§ 12981). (See Rojo v. Kliger (1990) 52 Cal.3d 65, 72 [276 Cal. Rptr. 130, 801 P.2d 373].) If the Department issues an accusation and the Commission concludes after a hearing that the Act has been violated, the Commission must issue an order requiring [the] respondent to cease and desist the discriminatory practice. (§ 12987.) In addition, the Commission may take whatever other steps it deems necessary to achieve the Act's stated goal of eliminating housing discrimination. These additional steps include requiring the respondent to sell or rent the housing (or comparable housing) to the complainant, and awarding the complainant actual damages. ( Ibid. ) As the majority acknowledges (maj. opn., ante, p. 255), the term actual damages includes damages for emotional suffering. In the context of damage awards, emotional suffering includes mortification, humiliation, indignity, grief, anxiety, and worry. ( Thing v. La Chusa (1989) 48 Cal.3d 644, 648-649 [257 Cal. Rptr. 865, 771 P.2d 814].) The constitutional validity of the legislative authorization for the Commission to award emotional distress damages is one of the two issues presented by this case.