The owner, former property manager, and contractor of an apartment building in Lewiston will collectively pay $39,500 to settle a lawsuit alleging that the former property manager and his contractor sexually harassed a female tenant, with the largest share being paid by the owner.
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in June 2024 alleging that from 2019 through 2020 the defendants, Robert Ross and Brian Bennett, Methuselah Tree LLC, RLR Enterprises LLC, and Henry Irvin Investments, subjected the tenant to repeated and unwanted sexual comments and touching without her consent.
According to the complaint, Ross and Bennett engaged in a “continuing and egregious pattern of quid pro quo and hostile environment sexual harassment” against the tenant, who “was in a vulnerable position when she and her family entered into the leases [because] she had limited resources but required housing for her family, including her two children.”
The lawsuit arose from a complaint that the tenant filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development over a violation of the Fair Housing Act. After HUD investigated the complaint, it issued a charge of discrimination, and the matter was referred to the Justice Department.
Under the settlement, the former property owner will pay $35,000 to the former tenant. The former property manager and his contractor will pay $1,500 and $3,000, respectively, and will complete Fair Housing Act training and be barred from property management or residential property maintenance for one year.
According to the DOJ, the defendants did not admit liability as part of the settlement.
If you are a victim of sexual harassment by a landlord or property manager or have suffered other forms of housing discrimination, call the Justice Department’s Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 800-896-7743 or submit a report online. More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at justice.gov/crt.
