(a) If the director has issued a charge, or if a party has elected under § 17-96(b) to have the claims raised by the complaint resolved in court, the city attorney, upon the request of the director, after receiving from the director a copy of the charge, and after consulting with the City Manager, will initiate and maintain a civil action on behalf of the aggrieved person in the Texas State District Court seeking relief under this chapter. Venue is Tarrant County, Texas.
(b) If a respondent has been found by the director and the city attorney to have materially breached an executed conciliation agreement the city attorney, upon the request of the director, after consulting with the City Manager, will initiate and maintain a civil action on behalf of the aggrieved person in the Texas State District Court seeking relief under this chapter. Venue is in Tarrant County, Texas.
(c) An aggrieved person may intervene in the action.
(d) If the court finds in the civil action that the conciliation agreement has been violated or a discriminatory housing practice has occurred, the court may award:
(1) Actual and punitive damages to the aggrieved person;
(2) Civil penalties to the city for vindication of the public interest in an amount that does not exceed:
a. Nineteen thousand seven hundred eighty-seven dollars ($19,787) if the respondent has not been adjudged by a court to have committed a prior discriminatory housing practice;
b. Except as provided by subsection (d)(2)d. below, $49,467 if the respondent has been adjudged by a court to have committed one other discriminatory housing practice during the five-year period ending on the date of the filing of the charge;
c. Except as provided by subsection (d)(2)d. below, $98,935 if the respondent has been adjudged by a court to have committed two or more discriminatory housing practices during the seven-year period ending on the date of the filing of the charge; and
d. If the acts constituting the discriminatory housing practice that is the subject of the charge are committed by the same individual who has been previously adjudged to have committed acts constituting a discriminatory housing practice, the civil penalties in subsections (b) and (c) above may be imposed without regard to the period of time within which any other discriminatory housing practice occurred.
(3) Reasonable attorney’s fees to the city and the aggrieved person;
(4) Costs of court, including witness and expert witness fees; and
(5) Any permanent or temporary injunction, temporary restraining order or other order, including an order enjoining the defendant from engaging in the discriminatory housing practice or ordering appropriate affirmative action.
(e) If actual damages are sought for the benefit of an aggrieved person who does not intervene in the civil action, the court may not award the actual damages if the aggrieved person has not complied with discovery orders entered by the court.
(f) The city shall not be subject to orders for sanctions for the failure of the complainant, if other than the director, or aggrieved person to comply with discovery requests of the defendant or discovery orders of the court.
(g) Any resolution of a charge before a final order is signed by the state district court under this section requires the consent of the aggrieved person on whose behalf the charge is issued.
(Ord. 11075, § 1, passed 4-21-1992; Ord. 11167, § 1(B), passed 9-8-1992; Ord. 11384, § 1(C), passed 8-17-1993; Ord. 13981, § 1, passed 10-26-1999; Ord. 14344, § 1, passed 9-26-2000; Ord. 19374-09-2010, §§ 1, 2 (Exh. A), passed 9-28-2010, eff. 10-1-2010; Ord. 24023-01-2020, §§ 1, 2 (Exh. A), passed 2-2-2020)