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Kent State Settles Suit Over Support Animals in Student Housing
By: Associated Press
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CLEVELAND (AP) – Kent State University in northeast Ohio has agreed to pay two former students $100,000 to settle a fair housing lawsuit that was filed by the U.S. Justice Department after the school refused to allow the students to keep an emotional support dog in a university apartment.
The settlement announced on Monday also calls for the school to pay $30,000 to a fair housing organization that advocated for the students and $15,000 to the federal government. The DOJ says in a statement that Kent State will allow students with psychological disabilities to keep animals that provide “therapeutic benefits.”
The DOJ filed the lawsuit on the students’ behalf in August 2014. A Kent State spokesman declined to comment on Monday.
A federal court judge must approve the settlement agreement.