On January 29, 2009, the United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District for the Eastern District of Michigan, under the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. §3614(a), against a local property owner and his property manager. At issue was the treatment of female tenants in several single-family dwellings in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The U.S. alleged that the property manager engaged in a pattern and practice of subjecting current and prospective female tenants to sexual discrimination and harassment, and that the owner knew or should have know of his behavior and took no action to stop it. The complaint (subsequently amended) sought declaratory, injunctive, and monetary relief along with civil penalties.

The specific facts alleged were that the property manager demanded sexual favors from female tenants in exchange for rental and for services, subjected them to unwanted verbal sexual advances; entered the apartments of female tenants without permission or notice; granted and denied tangible housing benefits based on sex; and took adverse action against female tenants when they refused or objected to his sexual advances.

A jury found liability in the amount of $115,000 on August 6, 2010. On September 20, the U.S. then sought injunctive relief and penalties, which District Judge Julian Abele Cook granted on March 3, 2011. The Order imposed the maximum allowable $55,000 in civil penalties against the property manager and $27,500 against the owner. Additionally, it imposed a fairly detailed injunction:

• It imposed a general prohibition against gender discrimination.
• It required the owners to adopt and distribute written non-discrimination policies, identifying and giving contact information for the owner and any manger, and providing information necessary for filing a complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
• Defendants were required to post EHO signs and to receive and provide EHO for the owners and any current and future employees.
• It required detailed record-keeping and reporting requirements to allow compliance monitoring.
• It permanently prohibits the property manager, from ever having "any involvement in the management, rental, or maintenance of any dwelling, as defined by the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 802(b)."

The case terminated on May 18, 2011.

Asma Husain - 02/07/2016


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