Hanif asks about attorney experience and disparate impact cases
Hanif asks how many CCHR attorneys have significant experience in disability and source of income cases. Rivera says there are 13 staff attorneys without specific specialties, and says CCHR evaluates both protections and considers disparate impact of source of income policies.
And you were getting into discussing the kind of staffing structure of attorneys.
How many attorneys are at CCHR that have significant experience on these cases specifically in both areas?
Thank you for that question.
We actually currently have 13 staff attorneys in our office.
Our attorneys handle all range of cases, so they don't necessarily have a specific specialty or topic or topic.
area, our interventionists are really where the specialties are leveraged and how they communicate with respondents, negotiating tactics, and the nuances of the law before a complaint is filed.
Understood.
And then given that people with disabilities disproportionately rely on housing vouchers, has CCHR investigated whether source of income discrimination also constitutes disability discrimination?
And if so, has the agency pursued any disparate impact cases on that basis?
Thank you.
That is accurate.
We often evaluate the incident or the alleged incident based off of both protections.
And we recognize, right, lawful source of income, it's very easy to only think about voucher discrimination, but that can include things like SSD benefits, which we know only individuals with disabilities are receiving.
And so if they're denying or being denied the opportunity to view and apply for an apartment because of their use of those benefits, inherently we're going to automatically include both of those protected classes as a basis
and look at the desperate impact of policies that prohibit lawful source of income and how they impact those individuals.
Thank you.
I'll pass it to Councilmember Nurse.