Federal Court Slams Landlord For Allowing Rental Agent To Sexually Harrass Female Tenants; Conduct To Cost Defendants $197K

From the U.S. Department of Justice:

• A federal court in Detroit has ordered Ypsilanti, Mich., property owner and Washtenaw County Commissioner Ronnie Peterson, and his former manager Glen E. Johnson to pay a total of $82,500 in civil penalties in a sexual harassment case, the Justice Department announced []. The civil penalty is in addition to the $115,000 jury verdict obtained by the department on behalf of six victims of the sexual harassment in August 2010.

• “This decision makes clear that property owners can be held accountable for sexual harassment carried out by their rental agents,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division “It is disturbing that some landlords will take advantage of vulnerable women and force them to choose between a roof over their heads or being sexually harassed. It is even more troubling when the harasser is enabled by a property owner who hands him the keys and looks the other way. Rental property owners must establish clear policies against sexual harassment, provide an avenue for tenants to make complaints directly to them, and take those complaints seriously.”

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• In its decision, the court noted that Johnson repeatedly sexually harassed six women tenants and that his behavior “was egregious and interfered with the women’s peaceful enjoyment of their homes, which should have been the one place where they could turn for refuge.” The court also noted that Peterson had not taken any corrective action after two of his tenants complained to him about Johnson’s contact. The court noted that Peterson’s conduct was “troubling inasmuch as he was willfully impervious to the complaints from two of his tenants. At the very least, their troubling comments should have put him on notice that he should have given closer attention to Johnson’s supervisory control over his tenants.”

For the DOJ press release, see Michigan Property Owner and Manager Ordered to Pay $82,500 in Civil Penalties in Sexual Harassment Case.