Tenant Rejected Landlord's Reasonable Accommodation Offer

Tenant complained to the NY State Division of Human Rights (DHR) that landlord discriminated against her based on disability. The DHR ruled against tenant, who appealed and lost. Landlord's offer to tenant of a first-floor apartment during the three-week period when the building's sole elevator would be out of service for repairs was a reasonable accommodation to tenant's disability. Tenant argued that she had to go up two steps from the building to reach the hallway leading to the first-floor apartment. Tenant used a walker after surgery had made it hard for her to walk and bend her knee. But tenant also had to go up one step from the street to enter the building lobby, and had never claimed that her disability prevented her from doing that. Tenant also claimed that landlord offered to bring only her bed downstairs, but landlord's agent testified credibly that they offered to bring down whatever tenant needed from her apartment while she stayed on the first floor. DHR's decision was rational. Tenant's rejection of landlord's offer and her choosing to stay in her sixth-floor apartment made it necessary for her to go up and down six flights of stairs. 

Fantauzzi v. New York State Division of Human Rights: 113 AD3d 518, 2014 NY Slip Op 00415 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; 1/23/14; Mazzarelli, JP, Friedman, Renwick, Moskowitz, Richter, JJ)