Landlord agrees to pay $1M in harassment suit

A former landlord in Cincinnati and his company have agreed to pay $1 million for violating the Fair Housing Act’s prohibitions against sexual harassment, the largest FHA sexual harassment award ever won by the Justice Department in a settlement. U.S. Fed News quotes Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, as saying that 12 women “were subjected to blatant, threatening, and unwanted sexual advances in their homes.” The judgment, which has to be approved by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, requires the defendants to pay $890,000 to the 12 women and $110,000 in civil penalties to the government.