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AND THE VERDICT IS.... YES The case was filed in federal court in 2016 and dismissed in 2017 for failing to assert that the facility showed intent to discriminate. Wetzel appealed, and in a
groundbreaking 2018 decision, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a landlord may be held liable under the Fair Housing Act for failing to protect a tenant from known,
discriminatory harassment at the hands of other tenants. Wetzel claimed that rather than taking action against the harassers, Glen Saint Andrew's staff waged a campaign to minimize her
complaints and isolate her, relegating her to a less desirable dining room seat, for instance, and barring her from common areas. “I'd just go in my room and barricade my door and
pray,” Wetzel said at the time. “I just felt like a slug, like I was nothing, like I wasn't even human.” After the Court of Appeals ruling, the matter was resolved, and though the
details are confidential, her lawyer reports that Wetzel, now 72, is happily living in a senior complex in Chicago. THE LESSON: Speak up! “If you're experiencing harassment and
discrimination at the hands of residents where you live — whether based on sex, religion, race, disability or other protected categories of the Fair Housing Act — it's the
landlord's responsibility to put an end to it,” says Karen Loewy, lead counsel in the Wetzel case. “Remember, you're protected under the law.” And the same safeguards apply when
renting or buying a home, getting a mortgage or seeking housing assistance. “We all deserve to live in a community that's safe, without fear of being bullied or harassed,” agrees Lisa
Marsh Ryerson, AARP Foundation president. “We participated in this lawsuit because the fair-housing rights of older adults should never be subject to discrimination, on any basis.”