Landlord to pay $1M in harassment claim

WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- A former Cincinnati landlord agreed to pay $1 million for sexual harassment violations under the Fair Housing Act, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday.

The settlement is the largest the Justice Department has obtained in a matter alleging FHA sexual harassment violations, the department said in a release issued in Washington.

Under the consent judgment, awaiting approval by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, the defendants must pay $890,000 in compensation to 12 women who alleged they were sexually harassed, and $110,000 in a civil penalty to the United States, the department said.

Among other things, the women alleged the defendants -- the landlord and his company -- subjected them to verbal sexual advances and sexual touching; entered the tenants' apartments without permission or notice; and took action against the tenants when they refused or objected to any sexual advances, the complaint said.

"These women were subjected to blatant, threatening and unwanted sexual advances in their homes," said Grace Chung Becker, acting assistant attorney general in the department's Civil Rights Division. "While nothing can fully compensate for the pain that these women experienced, this $1 million settlement reflects the gravity of the alleged conduct."