Court Orders Alabama
Property Manager And Landlord To Pay Damages For Sexual Harassment Of Tenant
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
June 2, 2009
CONTACT:
Nikki Cox, ACLU of
Alabama, (334) 265-2754, x 205
“Too often landlords
and rental agents try to exploit low-income women who have few affordable
rental options by demanding sex as a condition of housing,” said Olivia Turner,
the Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama, which
is representing the renter. “The court’s order sends a loud and clear message
that this form of exploitation is never acceptable.”
The ACLU, the ACLU of Alabama, the Central Alabama Fair Housing Center, and
Legal Services Alabama, Inc. filed a lawsuit against Elite Real Estate
Consulting Group agent Jamarlo GumBayTay and landlord Matthew Bahr, on behalf
of the renter, Yolanda Boswell, in 2007 charging that GumBayTay’s sexual
harassment and coercive tactics violated the federal Fair Housing Act, which
prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, national origin, sex,
religion, familial status and disability.
The
court found both Bahr and GumBayTay at fault for GumBayTay’s reprehensible
behavior and awarded Boswell over $50,000 in damages. The court noted that
Gumbaytay’s sexual harassment was well documented by recorded phone
conversations he had with Boswell in which he indicated that the amount of rent
Boswell paid depended on whether she would have sex with him.
“Unscrupulous
property managers and landlords will now think twice before trying to take
advantage of women who are low-income or receive Section 8 or other housing
assistance,” said Emily Martin, Deputy Director of the ACLU Women’s Rights
Project. “Women have a right to live in safe and secure homes where sexual
favors are not expected in return for roofs over their heads.”
In 2008, the U.S.
Department of Justice filed its own lawsuit against GumBayTay and various
landlords, alleging that GumBayTay has sexually harassed many other women who
live at other properties he manages throughout
“We hope Ms.
Boswell’s victory will give more women the courage to come forward and assert
their right to be free from sexual harassment,” said Kenneth Lay, housing
advocacy director for Legal Services Alabama. “This also puts property
owners on notice that they are responsible for the discriminatory acts of their
managers and agents.”
Attorneys on the
case include Allison Neal from the ACLU of
A copy of the ACLU’s
complaint and the rulings on the case are available online at: www.aclu.org/womensrights/violence/33583res20070214.html
More information on
the ACLU Women's Rights Project is available online at: www.aclu.org/womensrights/index.html