Creepy Assistant Property Manager To Cost Landlord $125K To Settle Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Brought By Two Female Tenants, Non-Profit Fair Housing Agency

In Novato, California, Bay City News Service reports:

• Two Novato women and a nonprofit group that took up their cause have won a $125,000 settlement of a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against the former assistant manager and landlord of their apartment building.
  
  Apartment residents Elizabel Hernandez and Elida Calderon and Fair Housing of Marin(1) filed the lawsuit against Victor Juan Untiveros and the owner of the Elm Drive Apartments in federal court in San Francisco in October. A notice of the settlement was filed in court [last month].
  
  Both women alleged that Untiveros made unwanted sexual advances toward them at various times in 2014. Hernandez also alleged that he made lewd sexual remarks and derogatory comments, and Calderon alleged he used his master key to enter her apartment without notice several times, when she was either alone or not at home.
  
  The former owner, 4th and Elm LLC, sold the complex in November and Untiveros no longer works or lives there, according to court documents. The former owner's lawyer was not available for comment on the settlement.
  
  The company did not admit to any liability in the agreement, according to Fair Housing of Marin Executive Director Caroline Peattie.
  
  Peattie said [] the two women and Fair Housing of Marin will each receive $24,000 in the settlement. The remaining $53,000 will pay the organization's attorney's fees and costs.
  
  Peattie praised the two women's courage in coming forward with complaints about the harassment. "Sexual harassment can be a terrifying experience. This case shows you can do something about it," she said.
  
  The lawsuit alleged violations of the federal Fair Housing Act and related state laws.
  
  Untiveros was previously the subject of another sexual harassment complaint filed with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing in 2013 by another female tenant of the apartment building. That complaint was settled in a confidential agreement, Peattie said.

Source: Novato Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Settles for $125,000 (Two Novato women and a nonprofit group have won a settlement in the case that stems back to 2014, according to court documents).

See also, Fair Housing of Marin and Two Plaintiffs Settle Sexual Harassment Lawsuit.

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(1) Fair Housing of Marin is a non-profit organization serving several California Bay Area counties that provides free counseling, enforcement, mediation, and legal or administrative referrals to persons experiencing housing discrimination. Fair Housing of Marin also offers foreclosure prevention counseling.