The East Hampton Housing Authority will pay $82,500 to settle a federal lawsuit accusing the agency of denying a disabled minor tenant the right to live with his emotional support dog, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. announced the settlement, which resolves a civil rights suit brought under the Fair Housing Act. According to Nocella, the housing authority spent 19 months in 2021 and 2022 wrongly maintaining that emotional support animals didn’t qualify for reasonable accommodation under federal law, blocking the boy from keeping his dog in his family’s home. Beyond the damages payment, the housing authority has agreed to adopt a formal reasonable accommodation policy for assistance animal requests. The Fair Housing Act bars discrimination in housing sales or rentals based on a buyer or renter’s disability and requires landlords to make reasonable accommodations when necessary for tenants with disabilities.