A settlement was reached Friday in a lawsuit filed against the Little Rock Metropolitan Housing Alliance by two public housing residents over mold concerns.
Jesse Powell Towers resident Bonita Iverson, along with her daughter and former Powell Towers resident April Eans, filed suit in 2015 claiming moldy living conditions violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and the Fair Housing Amendments Act, among others. Both plaintiffs are diagnosed asthmatics, court documents say, and Eans has a diagnosis of cerebral palsy.
In the settlement, which had not been approved by Metropolitan Housing Alliance Executive Director Rodney Forte by Friday evening, the Housing Alliance agrees to pay $4,000 to the plaintiffs on the condition that Iverson and Eans release the Housing Alliance from any and all claims, injuries and demands.
In addition, the settlement agreement includes a stipulation that its details remain confidential.
"If any inquiry is made regarding the result or outcome of Iverson's or Eans's claims against MHA ... the parties may say only that 'the issues have been resolved,'" according to the agreement.
Details of the agreement were obtained by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette through a Freedom of Information Act request from the Housing Alliance's attorney Neemah Esmaeilpour of the Wright, Lindsey & Jennings law firm.
In a November 2015 filing on the plaintiffs' behalf, attorney Matthew Campbell with the Pinnacle Law Firm of Little Rock alleged that mold could be found in several units at Powell Towers, including the plaintiffs' apartment.
"Beginning almost immediately upon moving into the Apartments, Plaintiffs began experiencing respiratory problems associated with exacerbation of asthma symptoms," Campbell's suit read. "Plaintiff Iverson's doctor placed her on a prescription inhaler to combat the respiratory problems, while Plaintiff Eans was hospitalized three separate times with severe respiratory problems."
A few months before filing suit, Iverson and Eans complained of the mold during a Housing Alliance board meeting, during which Executive Director Rodney Forte denied the presence of any mold.
By the housing board's next meeting in September 2015, Forte said his agency had found and abated mold in the building that was caused by a drainage pipe leak.
The suit states that Forte denied any problems of mold "despite his actual knowledge to the contrary," and cites positive indications of mold evidenced by mold testing conducted in the year previous.
One additional condition of the agreement is that the Metropolitan Housing Alliance will continue to investigate reports of mold and "take appropriate action, up to and including remediation."
As of Friday evening, the settlement agreement had been signed and executed by all parties save Forte.
The Metropolitan Housing Alliance manages 902 public housing units and administers more than 2,200 Section 8 housing vouchers. The agency uses federal funding to operate Housing and Urban Development programs for low-income residents of Little Rock.
Metro on 09/24/2016