HUD announces 3 settlements of housing-related sexual harassment claims

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced the settlement of three separate claims of housing-related sexual harassment in Florida, Virginia, and California.

The announcement follows the April nationwide rollout of an initiative by the HUD and the Department of Justice to increase awareness and reporting of sexual harassment in housing. Sexual harassment is illegal under the Fair Housing Act.

The settlements resulted in total relief for the complainants of approximately $125,000.

In Florida, the housing authority of Jacksonville, Fla., agreed to pay $75,000 to a female resident over allegations of multiple occasions of sexual harassment by a housing authority employee. The housing authority also agreed to adopt a new sexual harassment policy and require staff to attend fair housing training.

A Virginia independent living facility agreed to pay $37,500 to resolve allegations that it failed to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of a female tenant by another tenant. A California landlord agreed to pay a tenant $12,000 and attend fair housing training to resolve allegations that the landlord made repeated unwanted sexual advances towards a male tenant with a mental disability and ultimately evicted him for refusing the advances.

“Landlords are required to comply with the Fair Housing Act, the federal law that has banned housing discrimination for the last 50 years,” said Anna Maria Farias, HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. “It’s against the law to harass residents of housing because of sex, disability, or any another protected characteristic. The settlements we are announcing today reflect HUD’s commitment to rooting out sexual harassment and all housing discrimination as we know it.”