Duane Johnson, Sexual Harassment, Arkansas 2020

Melbourne, Arkansas – October 2020

Arkansas Housing Authority employee Duane Johnson has been accused of sexual harassment, according to a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department. Johnson is alleged to have touched the applicant without her consent, requested that she provide him with full-frontal nude photographs in exchange for his assistance in finding housing, made graphic descriptions of the poses he wanted for the photographs, made other unwelcome sexual advances and threatened to post nude photographs of the applicant on Facebook if she reported him.

The applicant, who was living with her two minor children at a shelter for survivors of domestic violence and abuse, applied to the Housing Authority for a Housing Choice Voucher in Cleburne County, Arkansas. Johnson, a Housing Authority employee who served as the Housing Choice Voucher coordinator for Cleburne County, was assigned to handle the application.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division stated, “All people deserve equal access to critical housing benefits, including vouchers, without being subjected to sexual harassment.”

Under the settlement, the Housing Authority will pay a total of $70,000 in monetary damages to the applicant, adopt and maintain an anti-discrimination policy, and provide training for employees on the Fair Housing Act.

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Demetria McCain of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity stated, “Renters whose names rise to the top of coveted Housing Choice Voucher waiting lists should not have to submit to unwelcomed sexual harassment before obtaining housing assistance.”

The lawsuit alleges that the Housing Authority and Johnson violated the Fair Housing Act when Johnson sexually harassed the applicant. The Housing Authority is vicariously liable for Johnson’s unlawful conduct.

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