IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
San Jacinto has settled a housing discrimination lawsuit with the U.S. Department of Justice.
The 2012 lawsuit claimed the city discriminated against disabled residents by restricting where group homes for the disabled could operate, according to a report in The Press-Enterprise.
City officials signed a consent decree, which means the city doesn’t admit guilt and denies having mistreated anyone unfairly.
San Jacinto has changed some of its ordinances, will provide fair housing training for city employees and file periodic compliances reports with the justice department for five years, according to the report.
The city agreed to pay $746,599 to home operators and several individuals as well as a $10,000 fine to the government. All of that money will come from the city’s general fund.
City Council members decided the best approach was to settle the lawsuit and thus limit any bad publicity, even though they believed the city had done nothing wrong, according to the report.
