Phyllis Shapiro and United States of America v. Cadman Towers, Inc. And Sydelle LevyPhyllis Shapiro and United States of America v. Cadman Towers, Inc. And Sydelle Levy
Dеfendants-appellants Cadman Towers, Inc., a 400-unit city-aided cooperative apartment building in Brooklyn, and Sydelle Levy, the president of the cooperative’s Board of Directors, appeal from an order entered on January 25, 1994 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Sifton, J.) granting a preliminary injunction in favor of plaintiff-appellee Phyllis Shapiro, a Cadman Towers cooperative apartment owner who is afflicted with multiple sclerosis. The injunction, issued pursuant to the anti-discrimination provisions of the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988,
BACKGROUND
In the late 1970s, plaintiff-appellee Phyllis Shapiro was diagnosed as suffering from multiple sclerosis (“MS”), a disease of the central nervous system. One of Shapiro’s doctors, Lave Schainberg, describes the type of MS suffered by Shapiro as one that follows a “relapsing progressive course where the patient goes downhill in a stepwise fashion over many years and eventually, in 30 or 35 years, becomes totally confined to a wheelchair.” While MS ordinarily is characterized by an “unpredictable course,” the disease generally “manifest[s] itself by difficulty in walking, urinary problems, sensory problems, visual problems, and fatigue.” Factors such as stress, cold temperatures, or infection tend to aggravate the symptoms. At times, Shapiro suffers physical weakness, difficulty in walking, loss of balance and coordination, fatigue, and severe headaches. During good periods, she can walk without assistance; at other times, she needs a cane or a wheelchair. Shapiro also suffers from severe bladder problems, resulting in incontinence. She presently catheterizes herself to relieve the buildup of urine.
In 1990, Shapiro moved into a two-bedroom apartment in Cadman Towers. During her first two years there, Shapiro used public transportation and private car services to commute to her job as a guidanсe counselor at a middle school and to various social events. However, each of these modes of transportation presented various difficulties to Shapiro because of her disease.
In early 1992, Shapiro acquired an automobile. Parking space in her Brooklyn Heights neighborhood, as in most parts of New York City, is extremely scarce. Initially, Shapiro parked her car on the street, taking advantage of a city-issued “handicapped” sticker that exempted her from normal parking rules and rеgulations. Even with that, however, it still was extremely difficult for her to find a parking spot, as many other persons who work or live in her neighborhood also have special parking privileges. Shapiro testified that the long delay in finding a parking space and walking to her building resulted in numerous urinary “accidents.” When she used an indwelling catheter, this delay would cause the bag to fill up, resulting in pain and leakage.
The Cadman Towers apartment complex where Shapiro lives consists of two buildings and two parking garages. At 101 Clark Street, where Shaрiro’s apartment is located, there are 302 apartments and 66 indoor parking spaces. At 10 Clinton Street, there are 121 apartments and 136 parking spaces. The parking rate at either location is approximately $90 per month, considerably less than the $275 charged by the closest commercial garage.
In February of 1992, Shapiro requested that a parking spot in the 101 Clark Street garage be made available to her immediately on account of her disability. This request was denied by the cooperative’s Board of Directors, and Shapiro was advised to place her name on the appropriate waiting list. Her present counsel and her brother, who also is an attorney, then wrote to the Board, requesting that Ms. Shapiro receive an immediate parking spot. After receiving these letters and consulting with counsel, Cadman Towers took the position that any duty under the Fair Housing Act to accommodate Shapiro’s disability did not come into play until she was awarded a parking space in the normal course. Once Shapiro became entitled to a parking space, the building would then attempt reasonably to accommodate her disability, perhaps by assigning her a parking space near her apartment.
On June 11,1992, Shapiro filed a complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), alleging housing discrimination under the Fair Housing Amendments Act. After an investigation, HUD issued a charge of discrimination on November 29, 1993. Shapiro elected, pursuant to
After conducting an evidentiary hearing, the district court granted Shapiro’s motion for a preliminary injunction on January 21, 1994. The injunction prohibited Cadman Towers from refusing to provide Shapiro with an immediate parking space on the ground floor of the garage at 101 Clark Street. The district court found that Shapiro would suffer irreparable harm absent injunc-tive relief, because without a parking space she is subjected to continued risk of injury and humiliation from her inability to walk distances and her incontinence.
Shapiro v. Cadman Towers, Inc.,
DISCUSSION
1. Legal Standards for Preliminary Injunctions
The standard for issuance of a preliminary injunction is well settled in this Circuit:
The party seeking the injunction must demonstrate (1) irreparable harm should the injunction not be granted, and (2) either (a) a likelihood of success on the merits, or (b) sufficiently serious questions going to the merits and a balance of hardships tipping decidedly toward the party seeking injunctive relief.
Resolution Trust Corp. v. Elman,
2. Irreparable Harm
A showing of irreparable harm is essential to the issuance of a preliminary injunction.
See Sperry Int’l Trade, Inc. v. Government of Israel,
Plaintiffs disease makеs her a candidate for accidental loss of balance, particularly during the winter season when her condition is aggravated. In addition, her urinary dysfunction results in episodes of embarrassing humiliation and discomfort which could be significantly reduced were she allowed to park indoors. The inconvenience suffered by a typical city resident forced to deice the car after a winter snowstorm is mild when compared to the discomfort, stress, and ensuing fatigue experienced by plaintiff when faced with the same task.
Id. Cadman Towers contends that many of the factual findings upon which the district court premised its determination of irreparable harm were clearly erroneous, and that the injunction should be overturned for that reason.
a. Shapiro’s Medical Condition
Cadman Towers contends that the district court erred by failing to give sufficient weight to the testimony of other building occupants and the building staff regarding their observations of Shapiro’s condition. These witnesses testified that, prior to the initiation of the proceedings giving rise to this appeal, Shapiro had always appеared to walk normally and that they had never observed her using a wheelchair. In discounting these observations by lay observers unfamiliar with Shapiro’s disease or its symptoms, the district court relied instead on the testimony givén by Shapiro’s medical experts, including her treating physician.
Shapiro,
Cadman Towers also takes issue with the district court’s assessment of Shapiro’s urinary difficulties, arguing that Shapiro’s incontinence could be remedied by the permanent use of an indwelling catheter. While the district court did not make a specific finding with respеct to this point, each party’s expert testified that long-term use of an indwelling catheter was inadvisable due to the risk of serious complications, including recurring infections. It seems clear that the district court credited this testimony and found that the permanent use of an indwelling catheter was medically inadvisable for Shapiro.
See Shapiro,
b. Availability of Other Parking for Shapiro
Cadman Towers argues that Shapiro did not need a parking space in its garage, because she could park on the street in spaces set aside for handicapped persons or in a commercial parking garage. However, the district court found that parking spots on the street frequently were unavailable to Shapiro or were too far away, and this determination is supported by the record. Similarly, the record supports the district court’s determination that, in view of the severity of the difficulties experienced by Shapiro, the closest commercial parking garage also is too far from her apartment.
In sum, wе believe that the district court’s factual findings with respect to Shapiro’s medical condition and the associated hardships are well supported by the record and are not clearly erroneous.
See Anderson v. City of Bessemer,
S. Likelihood of Success
To establish Shapiro’s likelihood of success on the merits, we must examine the statutory scheme under which she brings this suit. The Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 (“FHAA”) was enacted to extend the principle of equal opportunity in housing to,
inter alia,
individuals with handicaps.
See
H.R.Rep. No. 711, 100th Cong., 2d Sess. (1988),
reprinted in
1988 U.S.C.C.A.N. 2173, 2178-79. Pursuant to section 6(a) of the Act, codified at
[t]he concept of “reasonable accommodation” has a long history in regulations and case law dealing with discrimination on the basis of handicap. A discriminatory rule, policy, practice or service is not defensible simply because that is the manner in which such rule or practice has traditionally been constituted. This section would require that changes be made to such traditional rules or practices if necessary to permit a person with handicaps an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling.
House Report 711, 1988 U.S.C.C.A.N. at 2186 (footnotes omitted).
Applying these principles, the district court concluded that Shapiro was likely to succeed on the merits of her FHAA claim, stating:
In a case such as this, plaintiffs need to show a likelihood of success on the merits would usually translate into demonstrating that defendants had a duty to reasonably accommodate her request for a parking space and that no such reasonable accommodation was made. In the present case, however, defendants have conceded that they made no attempt at an accommodation, and the central issue for resolution remains only the existence of defendants’ duty.
Shapiro,
a. Interpretation of “Reasonable Accommodation”
Cadman Towers contends that the district court erred by failing to interpret the phrase “reasonable accommodation” used in
While Cadman Towers may be correct in its assertion that, under Title VII, any accommodation requiring more than a
de min-imis
cost is an “undue hardship” and thus unreasonable,
see, e.g., Eversley v. Mbank Dallas,
Section 504 prohibits federally-funded programs from discriminating on the basis of a handicap and requires such programs to reasonably accommodate an otherwise-qualified individual’s handicaps. The legislative history of section
The legislative history of
In light of the legislative history of
b. Duty to Accommodate Shapiro
Cadman Towers also argues that any duty to accommodate Shapiro has not yet arisen. In its view, only when Shapiro reaches the top of the parking garage’s waiting list in the normal course will parking be a “service[ ] or facility] ... [offered] in connection” with the rental of her dwelling.
Further support for this conclusion is found in
Without a reserved space, [the tenant] might be unable tо five in [the apartment] at all or, when he has to park in a space far from his unit, might have difficulty getting from his car to his apartment unit. The accommodation therefore is necessary to afford [the tenant] an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling.
Id.
(emphasis added). Although the situation before us is different from the example, because at Cadman Towers there are fewer parking spaces than apartments, this regulation makes it clear that the use and enjoyment of a parking space cannot be considered in isolatiоn from the tenant’s ability to use and enjoy her dwelling place, a right specifically protected by the FHAA. We cannot say that this interpretation is unreasonable.
See Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Counsel, Inc.,
Cadman Towers, however, attempts to use the example set forth in
Cadman Towers also argues that a reasonable acсommodation under the FHAA cannot include displacing tenants who already have parking spaces assigned to them or interfering with the expectancy of persons already on the waiting list. It bases this argument on lines of cases under section 504 and Title VII involving seniority rights in the workplace in which courts have held that displacing workers with seniority is not a reasonable accommodation.
See Hardison,
The extent to which a “reasonable accommodation” for a handicapped individual can burden or take away rights or privileges enjoyed by non-handicapped persons is an important question of first impression in this Circuit, particularly in the non-workplace context. However, it would be premature for us to reach this issue now. The district court found that Shapiro could be accommodated without displacing any existing tenants, because three parking spots are reserved for building personnel and these workers could park in a commercial garage. Moreover, the court found that one parking space was used by a person that did not live in the building. These findings are well supported by the record and will not be disturbed on appeal. Accordingly, four parking spaces were available for handicapped individuals that would not impair the rights of other non-handicapped building tenants. We note, however, that the policies implicated in collective bargaining and labor-relations cases,
see Hardison,
d. Conclusion as to Likelihood of Success
Based on the foregoing, we agree with the district court that defendants are under a duty to reasonably accommodate Shapiro’s need for a parking space in Cadman Towers’ parking garage. We also agree with the district court that this accommodation may involve some changes to Cadman Towers’ present method of allocating parking spaces and may require the cooperative to incur some costs. In view of Cadman Towers’ refusal to make any accommodations for Shapiro’s handicap, reasonable or otherwise, we therefore conclude, as did the district court, that Shapiro has demonstrated a clear likelihood of success in establishing a violation of the FHAA.
4- Conclusion as to Issuance of the Injunction
Having upheld the district court’s determinations that (1) Shapiro would likely suffer irreparable physical and emotional harm absent issuance of the injunction and that (2) Shapiro had demonstrated a clear likelihood that she will succeed on the merits of her FHAA claim, we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion by requiring Cadman Towers to provide Shapiro with a parking space in its garage during the pendency of this litigation. 1 Indeed, faced with Cadman Towers’ failure to suggest any alternative solutions, the district court had little choice but to enter the injunction requested by Shapiro.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the order entered in the district court is AFFIRMED.
Notes
. In view of this conclusion, we need not address the district court’s alternative holding that in-junctive relief was available to Shapiro under the "fair ground for litigation” standard.