Justice Department Secures Settlement in Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Missouri Landlord

<p>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<br &sol;>&NewLine; Thursday&comma; May 18&comma; 2023<br &sol;>&NewLine; Justice Department Secures Settlement in Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Missouri Landlord<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"mh-content-ad"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js&quest;client&equals;ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; crossorigin&equals;"anonymous"><&sol;script>&NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle"&NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;"&NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article"&NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid"&NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"1081854981"><&sol;ins>&NewLine;<script>&NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>The Justice Department announced today that it has secured a settlement from a St&period; Louis&comma; Missouri landlord&comma; who has agreed to pay &dollar;110&comma;000 to resolve a lawsuit alleging that he violated the Fair Housing Act &lpar;FHA&rpar; when he sexually harassed multiple female tenants&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Under the agreement&comma; subject to approval by the U&period;S&period; District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri&comma; Nedzad Ukejnovic is required to pay &dollar;85&comma;000 to compensate individuals harmed by the harassment and &dollar;20&comma;000 to compensate the Metropolitan St&period; Louis Equal Housing Opportunity Council for resources it expended responding to the reported harassment&period; The defendant is also required to pay a &dollar;5&comma;000 civil penalty to the United States&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Far too often landlords sexually harass and prey on those who are most vulnerable and it is unacceptable&comma;” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The Justice Department will continue to vigorously enforce fair housing laws to hold those who engage in unlawful conduct to account&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Multiple tenants complained that Mr&period; Ukejnovic subjected them to vulgar and disgusting demands for sex&comma; offering to reduce rent or security deposits if they complied&comma;” said U&period;S&period; Attorney Sayler A&period; Fleming for the Eastern District of Missouri&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The U&period;S&period; Attorney’s Office takes allegations like these seriously and seeks to hold all civil rights violators accountable whether civilly or criminally&period; This agreement not only provides for monetary compensation&comma; but it also prohibits him from contacting these tenants&comma; bars him from his properties when a lease is in effect and requires him to hire an independent property manager to prevent further violations of the civil rights laws&period; All of these are measures that will help protect current and future tenants&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;It is abhorrent that a landlord would subject his tenants to sexual harassment and retaliation&comma; robbing them of a safe place to call home&comma;” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Demetria L&period; McCain of the Department of Housing and Urban Development &lpar;HUD&rpar;’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;This settlement sends a strong message that sexual harassment in housing is illegal and that those who violate the Fair Housing Act will be held accountable&period; HUD applauds today’s action and remains committed to working with DOJ to enforce our nation’s fair housing laws&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In addition&comma; the consent order requires the defendant to retain an independent property manager to manage his rental properties for the duration of the order&comma; obtain fair housing training and implement non-discrimination policies and complaint procedures to prevent sexual harassment at his properties in the future&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The lawsuit&comma; filed in September 2022&comma; alleged that the defendant subjected multiple female tenants to harassment that included making unwelcome sexual advances&comma; offering to reduce rent or security deposits in exchange for engaging in sex acts&comma; requesting sexually explicit photos&comma; staring at female tenants’ bodies in a sexual way&comma; subjecting female tenants to unwelcome sexual touching&comma; and visiting and entering female tenants’ homes for no legitimate purpose&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The matter was referred to the Justice Department after HUD received two separate complaints alleging that the defendant had violated the Fair Housing Act&period; The complainants – a former female tenant and the Metropolitan St&period; Louis Equal Housing Opportunity Council&comma; a non-profit organization that helped the tenant file a complaint with HUD and engaged in outreach and education efforts following defendant’s harassment of the tenant – chose to have the matter decided in federal court after HUD investigated their complaints and issued a charge of discrimination&period; Upon receiving the referral the Justice Department investigated further and identified additional female tenants whom the defendant sexually harassed&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Justice Department’s <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;crt&sol;sexual-harassment-housing-initiative" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" >Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative<&sol;a> is led by the Civil Rights Division&comma; in coordination with U&period;S&period; Attorneys’ Offices across the country&period; The initiative seeks to address and <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;crt&sol;video&sol;sexual-harassment-housing-psa" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" >raise awareness<&sol;a> about sexual harassment by landlords&comma; property managers&comma; maintenance workers&comma; loan officers and other people who have control over housing&period; Since launching the initiative&comma; the department has filed 31 lawsuits alleging sexual harassment in housing and recovered over &dollar;10&period;8 million for victims of such harassment&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division enforces the Fair Housing Act&comma; which prohibits discrimination in housing based on race&comma; color&comma; religion&comma; national origin&comma; sex&comma; disability and familial status&period; The Civil Rights Division is <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;crt&sol;page&sol;file&sol;1581661&sol;download" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" >committed<&sol;a> to protecting people from sexual misconduct&period; More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;crt&period; Individuals may report sexual harassment or other forms of housing discrimination by calling the Justice Department’s Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 1-833-591-0291&comma; or <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;civilrights&period;justice&period;gov&sol;" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" >submitting a report online<&sol;a>&period; Individuals may also report such discrimination by contacting HUD at 1-800-669-9777 or by <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;hud&period;gov&sol;program&lowbar;offices&sol;fair&lowbar;housing&lowbar;equal&lowbar;opp&sol;online-complaint" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" >filing a complaint online<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p> Topic&lpar;s&rpar;&colon; Civil RightsFair HousingComponent&lpar;s&rpar;&colon; <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;crt&sol;" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" >Civil Rights Division<&sol;a><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;crt&sol;about&sol;hce&sol;" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" >Civil Rights &&num;8211&semi; Housing and Civil Enforcement Section<&sol;a>Press Release Number&colon; 23-576 <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p> Updated May 18&comma; 2023<a href&equals;https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;opa&sol;pr&sol;justice-department-secures-settlement-sexual-harassment-lawsuit-against-missouri-landlord>Original Article<&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;