Not Playing Nice in the Sandbox –
Handling Harassment Hassles By Megan Hall, Esq.
T
he responsibilities and potential
between guests and employees/vendors, etc.
liabilities for homeowner’s
This expansion of responsibility and potential
associations related to complaints of
liability may leave you asking, what can an
harassment have increased from 2016 until the present, leaving directors and managers to cope with an increase in such complaints. Effective January 1, 2020, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing provided guidelines for associations to address discrimination and harassment claims. (See Calif. Code of Regs §§ 12000-12271.) These regulations, similar to the prior U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations, hold an association liable for failing to take corrective action to end discriminatory or harassing conduct of a third party. For associations that have employees, there are additional obligations to prevent and investigate harassment of employees. (See Government Code §§ 12900-12996; 2 Calif. Code of Regs. §§ 11000-11141.) In other words, under certain circumstances, an association can be held liable for harassment between residents, between residents and employees/ vendors, between guests and residents,
6 The Law Journal Summer 2021 | cacm.org
association do?
Investigation If an association’s manager or a board member receives a complaint of harassment, the board will need to take steps to investigate the complaint. The association’s responsibility to take corrective action depends on whether the harassment is based on the individual’s membership in a protected class, being perceived as being a member of a protected class, “or on account of having aided or encouraged any person in the exercise of rights protected by the Act.” (2 Calif. Code of Regs. § 12120(e).) In California, protected classes include race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, ancestry, familial status, source of income, disability, age, medical condition, genetic information, citizenship, primary language, immigration status, military or veteran status. (Cal. Gov’t Code § 12940(a).) If the harassment is not based on one of the above-listed protected classes, the board may be under no duty to take further action in “neighbor to neighbor disputes.”
