Army Veteran and His Therapy Cats Not Welcome at NYC's 30th Street Men's Shelter

NEW YORK - Dec. 20, 2015 - PRLog -- Following the filing of Esmer's Complaint with DHR, the Division investigated the matter and issued an Investigation Report and Basis of its Determination.

Complainant's Position: Esmer is a homeless veteran who sought shelter housing at the 30th Street Men's Shelter and alleged that he was harassed and denied reasonable accommodations for himself and his therapy animals, namely: to be housed with his two emotional support cats; an orthopedic mattress and access to his room during the day.

The Division's investigation further revealed that he requested to be housed with his cats as a reasonable accommodation and he provided medical notes in support of his request. His request was denied by the shelter director, John Hammond. Esmer was then sent to another shelter without his cats, pending his appeal of the denial. He was separated from his cats for approximately two weeks, during which time he experienced severe crying spells, insomnia, increased anxiety and panic attacks. It was not until his medical providers sent more letters about his need for accommodations with threats of legal action did they permit Esmer to reside with his therapy animals. However, he was forced to relocate to another shelter in order to receive this accommodation.

Esmer has spinal problems that require surgery and needs a therapeutic mattress, but only received a thin cot mattress which aggravated his condition and caused him pain. He provided letters and doctor's notes about his back pain and his need for a better mattress; his need to be able to access his room during the day due to dizziness from his medications and the need to rest his back in bed - but these requests were ignored.

Respondents' Position: The shelter asserted that they had legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for temporarily denying Esmer's reasonable accommodation to reside with his cats and contend that providing the accommodation posed an undue burden. They further asserted that Esmer failed to demonstrate that his cats were necessary for his use of the shelter, and that he could not verify that his cats were service animals.

Investigator's Observations: Esmer provided numerous documents, including various letters from his doctors, explicitly stating that the emotional support animals were fundamentally necessary for his well-being. The Department of Homeless Services provided DHR with a copy of its Reasonable Accommodation Policy which states that, "during the accommodation process, shelter staff, the DHS medical director and the Office of Client Advocacy are all encouraged to reach a resolution agreeable to shelter staff and the Department of Homeless Services client. The process is supposed to be "interactive" and the staff must confer with the client." Ultimately, NYS DHR determined that the shelter appears to have violated their own rules regarding the accommodation process.

Conclusion of NYS DHR: Whether the shelter's actions were reasonable in the totality of the circumstances will be decided by the trier of fact at a full hearing on the merits, where testimony will be taken under oath and subject to cross-examination.

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