Thursday, March 30, 2017

Landlord Evicts Wrong Tenant, Then Fires Maintenance Man Over His Refusal To Lie About What Happened; Management Responds To Media's Onsite Request For Comment By Giving Them The Boot As Well

In Jacksonville, Florida, Action News Jax Channel 30 reports:
  • A worker at an Arlington apartment complex said he was fired because he refused to lie after his employer evicted the wrong tenant.

    Last week, we told you about Brianna Davis, who contacted us saying that her apartment at Arlington Eagle had been cleared out and all of her belongings had been thrown in the trash.

    She told us last week that the management at Arlington Eagle had admitted they made a mistake and had the wrong apartment cleared because of an eviction.

    James Little said he was the maintenance man who cleared the apartment and was told to do so by management.

    "Around 3:30 in the afternoon, the young lady pulled up and I was at the next-door property and she said ‘Where are my belongings?’" Little said. He said that woman was Davis and called us after he saw her story on Action News Jax last week.

    We interviewed Davis last week after she said management had maintenance enter her home and throw away nearly everything she owned. "They were supposed to be going into apartment 213 and they went into apartment 223. The property manager said it was a mix-up," Davis told us on March 13.

    Little said management told him the same thing.

    He said that they gave him the wrong apartment number. He said what they asked him to do next made him angry.

    "They wanted me to lie and say that her belongings -- her laptop or furniture or things like that -- was not in there. That's bull," Little said.

    Since airing Davis's story, we have tried several times to contact management at the complex.

    We were kicked off the property and they did not return our calls.
Source: Wrong tenant evicted in Jacksonville; worker claims he was asked to lie about what happened.

For story update, see Wrong tenant evicted in Jacksonville, apartment management blames worker (The company accused of wrongfully evicting a local student from her apartment told Action News Jax it was a mistake and blames a former maintenance worker for it).