The Fair Housing Act prohibits sexual harassment, an appellate court ruled, reversing a lower court decision in a case in which a tenant was allegedly forced out of her apartment for ending a sexual relationship with the property manager.

The 11th U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta said in Friday’s ruling in Rita Fox v. Lucille F. Gaines, Dana James Gaines that it was joining other circuits in concluding the Fair Housing Act was comparable, and should be interpreted similarly, to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in establishing that sexual harassment can be a form of sex discrimination.

Ms. Fox, a single mother, allegedly received a reduction in her rent in exchange for engaging in a sexual relationship with the property manager. 

The manager also installed surveillance cameras facing her unit, questioned her about her whereabouts and demanded she not invite male visitors to her home. 

After she ended the relationship, the manager had her evicted from the apartment.

Ms. Fox filed suit in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, charging violation of the federal FHA and the Florida FHA’s prohibition against sex discrimination. The district court dismissed the case but was overturned by a unanimous three-judge appeals court panel.

“Finding no guidance from this Court on the question, the district court dismissed Ms. Fox’s complaint on the ground that her sexual harassment claims were not actionable under the FHA,” the ruling said.

“Today we provide that guidance and hold that sexual harassment can be a form of sex discrimination prohibited by the FHA, providing the plaintiff can demonstrate that she would not have been harassed but for her sex,” the ruling said.

 “When interpreting the FHA, we — like our sister circuits — look to cases interpreting Title VII, which uses language virtually identical to the FHA,” the ruling said, in overturning the lower court’s decision and remanding the case for further proceedings.

One of Ms. Fox’s attorneys, Eneami Bestman, program manager-staff attorney for the West Palm Beach, Florida-based Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County’s fair housing department, said the other federal circuit appeals courts that have ruled similarly are the 6th in Cincinnati; 7th in Chicago; 8th in St. Louis; 9th in San Francisco and the 10th in Denver.

“We need to make good law, so this was exciting for both of us,” Ms. Bestman said, referring to Ms. Fox.

The defendants’ attorney did not respond to a request for comment.

In 2019,  a federal appeals court ruled in a divided opinion that the FHA is analogous to Title VII,  in holding a landlord can be held liable for failing to promptly respond to a racially hostile housing environment.