Civil Rights Reporter 

A pair of recent cases addressed the question of the proper standards regarding religious accommodations in the workplace. These cases came to different results based on what might be viewed as a very slight distinction.

Leonard Hubert has served on the Ohio Civil Rights Commission since 2006 and as its chairman since 2011. Before joining the commission, he was the Governor’s director of external affairs, overseeing the Office of Minority Affairs, Multicultural Affairs, Faith-Based Initiatives, and Veterans Affairs. He recently took some time to discuss the workings of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission with Assistant Attorney General Steve Schmidt of the Ohio Attorney General’s Civil Rights Section.

Here are just a few developments in the Civil Rights Section since our last issue:
 
Kudos: Marilyn Tobocman, principal assistant attorney general in the Ohio Attorney General’s Cleveland Office, earned Crain’s Cleveland Business and In-House Government Counsel Award in November for her years of service in fighting for the rights of all Ohioans.

Ohio Civil Rights Commission v. Myers, 2nd District Court of Appeals, Ohio, 2014-Ohio-144 (Jan. 17, 2014)
 
Issue: Is Ohio’s Fair Housing Act, Ohio Revised Code (R.C.) Section 4112.02(H) limited to behavior related to housing transactions and therefore inapplicable to harassment by a neighbor?

Dickinson et al v. Zanesville Metropolitan Housing Authority et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, 2013 WL 5487101 (Sept. 30, 2013)
 
Issue: Can a female victim of domestic violence state a cause of action under the Fair Housing Act based on sex discrimination by alleging the housing authority failed to act and instead blamed her for violence caused by the father of her children.