Disabled residents of Mayor Wright Homes sue state

Disabled residents at Mayor Wright Homes, a Honolulu public-housing project, are suing the state and the Hawaii Public Housing Authority for what they call deplorable and hazardous living conditions at Mayor Wright Homes.

On April 21, the nonprofit Lawyers for Equal Justice and attorneys at the Honolulu law firm Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing filed class action lawsuits on behalf of the residents, in both state and federal court, claiming the state has failed to maintain safe living conditions at the 364-unit housing project.

According to federal court documents, the housing facilities at Honolulu’s Mayor Wright Homes, located between Liliha and King streets, Pua Lane and Vineyard Boulevard, are routinely plagued with leaking and bursting plumbing, a lack of hot water, rat and roach infestations, overflowing piles of trash and toxic air. The suit alleges that the unsafe and unsanitary living conditions at the project violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act and the Fair Housing Act.

In a prepared statement, Victor Geminiani, executive director of Lawyers for Equal Justice, said, “The state’s continued failure to fund over $350 million in critical repairs needed throughout our public housing system has resulted in 25,000 residents of public housing living for years in vermin-infested apartments without hot water and garbage collection, while elderly and disabled residents remain isolated in their apartments because of broken elevators and ineffective security.”