Another Lexington landlord sued by feds, accused of repeated sexual harassment of tenants
The U.S. Department of Justice has sued a Lexington landlord for allegedly sexually harassing female tenants for more than 40 years.
Joe Johnson is the second Lexington landlord sued recently by federal law enforcement for violating the Fair Housing Act, which protects tenants from unwanted sexual advances, in the past three weeks.
The department sued longtime Lexington property manager and landlord Adnan Shalash for similar violations in November.
Johnson was not immediately available for comment.
The civil complaint alleges Johnson, who owns and manages 150 rental units in Fayette County, has reduced or excused late rent in exchange for sexual favors, subjected female tenants to unwanted touching, exposed his genitals to tenants, entered female tenants’ units without notice under the guise of conducting maintenance and threatened tenants who refused his sexual advances with eviction.
The complaint alleges employees of Johnson, including maintenance workers, also sexually harassed female tenants.
The complaint lists several examples of Johnson’s alleged predatory behavior toward his tenants going back decades.
In 2005, on multiple occasions when a female tenant was paying rent, “Johnson touched her breasts and rubbed her buttocks with his hands. On multiple occasions, Johnson indicated he would exchange rent for sexual favors,” the complaint said.
The examples are “part of a longstanding pattern or practice of sexual harassment of numerous female tenants from at least the 1980s to the present,” according to the complaint.
This is not the first time Johnson’s practices toward female tenants have come to the attention of authorities.
In 2022, the Lexington-Fayette Human Rights Commission charged Johnson for violating the Fair Housing Act for sexual harassment of female tenants.
Ray Sexton, executive director of the Human Rights Commission, said that case is still pending in Fayette Circuit Court. The commission is trying to determine if it will join the Department of Justice case or continue with its own case. Sexton said they are waiting for guidance from federal officials.
Sexton and other housing advocates have said these types of complaints — sexual harassment of tenants — can go unreported because many tenants who are targeted are poor or have few places to live. Some have prior felony convictions or a history of evictions, making it difficult to find landlords who will rent to them. Many fear retaliation and the loss of their homes.
The Department of Justice is seeking unspecified monetary damages and civil fines against Johnson. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Kentucky.
This story was originally published December 5, 2024 at 8:58 AM.
