Photo not that of the actual client.
“Hassan” came to Jacksonville Area Legal Aid for help defending an eviction. His property manager had previously sued him for eviction, but Hassan had won. The property manager had then sued him in small claims court, where Hassan won again. When Hassan came to JALA he was seeking to defend a second attempted eviction by the same property manager. With the help of a JALA housing lawyer, Hassan won that eviction case too. During his meetings with his JALA lawyer Hassan described derogatory comments the property manager and her husband had made involving his race and national origin. Hassan is originally from the African country of Eritrea. Because of the evidence of discrimination, Hassan’s case was referred to JALA’s Fair Housing Unit. The Fair Housing Unit brought a discrimination complaint on Hassan’s behalf. When he reported further discriminatory treatment after filing the complaint, his attorney amended the complaint to include retaliation. During a mediation, Hassan’s Fair Housing attorney was able to get him a renewed three-year lease, plus all monitoring and other enforcement of the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission.
