Westchester County Social Services Committee Receives Human Rights Commission Update – May 5, 2026
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Westchester County Social Services, Disabilities & Human Rights Committee – Human Rights Commission Update (May 5, 2026)
The committee met at 11:00 AM on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, at the Michaelian Office Building in White Plains, NY, to hear an update from the Westchester County Human Rights Commission (HRC). Chair Nancy Barr presided. HRC Executive Director Tejash V. Sanchala, Deputy Director Julia De Persia, and Housing Director Joshua Levin Fair presented on enforcement actions, education and outreach, and emerging trends. The committee was joined by Legislators Julius Johnson, Jen Puja, Shemey Williams, Erica Pierce, and others. The meeting adjourned at 12:02 PM.
Discussion Items
- Commission overview: Sanchala described the HRC's dual missions of enforcement and education, noted the 25th anniversary in December 2025, and reported a substantial increase in requests for assistance last year, with numbers being finalized.
- Enforcement case examples:
- Fair described an executive director-initiated complaint alleging years of sexual harassment and assault by a superintendent in low-income housing. The investigation revealed a pattern affecting multiple women, including a minor, and management had been aware but failed to act. The case settled in federal court, with private settlements totaling approximately $12.5 million to individual complainants. Fair also noted the superintendent was a prior convicted felon, and the company admitted to a hiring practice of "only married men," prompting a second complaint.
- De Persia described a case at a condominium where inaccessible pools and community rooms were resolved through construction projects, a $50,000 payment to the county, and policy/training improvements.
- De Persia described a cooperative housing case where lack of accessible entrances resulted in construction of ramps, a five-figure payment, and policy improvements. She noted a problematic proposal for residents to use a steep driveway, which was rejected.
- Education and outreach: Sanchala highlighted the film series, upcoming May 16 program with Judge Denny Chin on Asian Americans and the law, Fair Housing Month collaborations, bystander intervention training, and outreach at community events and schools. He noted the commission is a small team of eight.
- Trends: Sanchala reported that the top bases for complaints were disability, ethnicity, race, retaliation, and national origin. He mentioned anecdotal reports of landlords threatening to call ICE, and the commission's referrals to legal clinics.
- Co-op disclosure: In response to questions, Sanchala and Fair said the commission monitors rejection notices but has limited data, and they have not recently heard calls to change the law. They noted Westchester is unique in requiring co-op transparency.
- Legislator comments: Johnson shared personal stories of housing discrimination and expressed gratitude for the commission's work. Barr praised the website and requested earlier notice of events. Puja thanked the commission for its trainings.
Key Outcomes
- The committee received the update with appreciation and support.
- Sanchala committed to providing legislators with earlier notice of upcoming events and to sharing the 2025 annual report when completed.
- No formal votes were taken; the committee adjourned by motion at 12:02 PM.
Meeting Transcript
This meeting is being recorded and summarized. Excellent. Good morning. Nancy Barr, Chair of Social Services Disabilities and Community Rights. And this is Tuesday, May 5th. And we are going to be hearing from our human rights commission today. I'm going to take attendance. I am here. And let's see, Vice Chair, Julius Johnson, I expect later. I think David can not be here. I see legislator Jen Puja. Excellent. Thanks for joining. Legislator Shemey Williams here. Thank you for coming. Goshi. And we are joined today by Legislator Erica Pierce. Thank you. So happy to have you. Okay. All right. So I am going to let you introduce yourselves and give your um your meal. We're really happy to have you all here. I I do want to say before we get started. I was on the website on your website in preparation for this meeting, and it looks really good. I mean, it is far, it's really navigable. You could find things. I was this is yeah, this is great. I I couldn't find. I was looking for the annual report because you guys do an annual report, right? That I couldn't find. I don't know if that's on the site. Okay. Yeah. So well, that was, yeah, I couldn't figure out a heading that would get me to that. But in terms of if you wanted to report something, make a complaint, um, look up a law that's related. I mean, there were a lot that was good information and also easy to find and easy to read. So thank you. You know, whatever work you've been doing on that, I think it looks it looks really good. Um, but anyway, I'm gonna turn it over to you. Thank you, Madame Director. Um, my name is Sage Challenge, the executive director for the Westchester County Human Rights Commission. I'm joined today with our deputy director, Julia DePersia, who's joining us virtually, our fair housing director of Joshua Levin, um, who's sitting beside me. And so we're just gonna I think today have a conversation and just talk about some updates and recent highlights, and then I'm happy to answer, we're happy to answer any questions that you might have. And um, you know, if we answer if we're able to answer them, we're happy to do that. So many of you know the commission celebrated its 25th anniversary last December, and uh some of you were at our event. I appreciate that, and thank you. And I think that our work is incredibly timely in this moment and potentially you know, I think more important than ever. And our goals are to prevent and eliminate discrimination. And I'm just gonna talk today about uh two of our core missions, which is enforcement and education.
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