SUBJECTED HIS FEMALE RESIDENTS TO UNWANTED SEXUAL ADVANCES
According to a press release issued by the United States Department of Justice, a St. Louis Missouri landlord has agreed to pay $110,000 to settle a civil case (originally filed back in September 2022) wherein the owner was alleged to have “sexually harassed multiple female tenants.”
This particular landlord allegedly subjected female residents, among other things, to “unwelcome sexual advances,” offered to “reduce rent or security deposits” in exchange for sex, requested “sexually explicit photos,” leered at their bodies, and, supposedly entered their homes “for no legitimate purpose.”
The litigation, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, claimed multiple violations of the Fair Housing Act. In addition to his hiring of an independent property manager, and agreeing to modify his rental practices and policies, the owner must pay $85,000 to the women harmed by his misconduct, $20,000 to the Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing Opportunity Council (in reimbursement for the resources expended by that agency), along with a $5,000 civil penalty payable to the United States.
In a written statement, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, observed, “Far too often landlords sexually harass and prey on those who are most vulnerable and it is unacceptable …. The Justice Department will continue to vigorously enforce fair housing laws to hold those who engage in unlawful conduct to account.”
Think he got off cheap?
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