Discrimination Case Reaches Settlement, Over 50 Years Later

In the mid 1960s, Chicago public housing residents sued the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) for only building public housing in black neighborhoods and keeping black residents out of white projects. "The lawsuit is named after the lead plaintiff in that case – Dorothy Gautreaux – who, along with others, won the case against the CHA. Now, the authority has agreed to a settlement," Nicole Cardos reports for WTTW Chicago.

The settlement has specific instructions for what the CHA is to do to alleviate these issues. "The CHA is obligated to maintain its schedule for planning and construction of its 'Plan for Transformation'; develop housing for low-income families in mixed-income communities, or 'opportunity areas'; strengthen its voucher program; and create early learning childhood development programs at four public housing complexes," Cardos Reports.