Suit Claims Housing Authority Responded Inadequately To Harassment of Muslim Family

Today's San Francisco Chronicle reports that a lawsuit was filed Friday against the San Francisco Housing Authority, alleging that it did not respond adequately to a 2005 complaint by a Pakistani family that their apartment was broken into, their Quran was desecrated and their traditional clothing was shredded. In January 2004, after a number of Muslim families were verbally and physically abused, the Housing Authority had reached a settlement under which it agreed to create an Office of Fair Housing and to respond promptly to complaints of religious and racial harassment. Friday's lawsuit says that the Housing Authority failed to follow its own policy that required immediate relocation of tenant Ashan Khan's family. The Housing Authority argues that the incident was a simple burglary that did not qualify the Khans for an emergency apartment transfer.