Kurt Williams, Sex Trafficking, Iowa 2025

Kurt Williams, a Davenport Property Manager, Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit for $325,000

Defendant: Kurt Williams

Crime: Sexual Harassment

City: Davenport, Iowa

Date: January 2025

Sentence: $325,000 Settlement

On January 2025, the owner and property manager of residential rental properties in Davenport, Iowa, Kurt Williams, and his company, Gearhead Properties LC, agreed to pay $325,000 to resolve a lawsuit alleging that the property manager sexually harassed female tenants in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, alleges that for more than two decades, property manager Kurt Williams sexually harassed female tenants at various rental dwellings throughout Davenport. The suit alleges that Williams’ conduct included making unwelcome sexual comments and sexual advances to female tenants, exposing his genitals to female tenants, requesting sex or sex acts from female tenants in exchange for tangible housing benefits like reductions in rent, and taking adverse housing actions, such as initiating evictions or refusing to make repairs, against female tenants who objected to or refused his sexual advances.

“A home should be a place of security and comfort, not fear,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will continue to hold property managers and landlords accountable when they prey on vulnerable tenants by sexually harassing them.”

The settlement agreement permanently bars Williams from contacting tenants harmed by his harassment and permanently bars Williams from managing residential rental properties. The $325,000 settlement includes $315,000 for tenants who were harmed by Williams’ harassment and a $10,000 civil penalty to the United States.

If you are a victim of sexual harassment by another landlord or property manager or have suffered other forms of housing discrimination, call the Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 1-800-896-7743 or submit a report online. More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at www.justice.gov/crt.

This settlement is part of the Justice Department’s Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative, which has filed 52 lawsuits alleging sexual harassment in housing and recovered nearly $17 million for victims of such harassment.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-secures-325000-settlement-sexual-harassment-lawsuit-against-iowa-landlord