Sexual Harassment Tenant Landlord Lands $105,000 Fine · California
Sex Predator Caught: SJSU Trainer Exposed in Decade-Long Harassment Scandal · California
Brandon Denzel Washington, Sex Trafficking Ring Operation, Seattle … · California
Nathanial Alfonso Burke, Attempted Child Sex Meeting, Willits CA, 2024 · California
ICE Nabs 9 Alleged Sex Offenders in LA Sweep · Texas

Table of Contents

Toggle

Sex Harassment Lands Property Manager in Hot Water
- - Key Facts

Sex Harassment Lands Property Manager in Hot Water

A Los Angeles property manager and his employers have been hit with a hefty fine and ordered to undergo training after allegations of sexual harassment against female tenants surfaced.

The Justice Department announced today that Filomeno Hernandez, a property manager of residential apartment buildings near MacArthur Park, violated the federal Fair Housing Act by sexually harassing female tenants since at least 2006.

The settlement also resolves claims against Ramin Akhavan, Bonnie Brae Investments LLC and Westlake Property Services LLC, which managed or owned the rental properties where the harassment took place.

Under the consent decree, which still must be approved by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, defendants are required to pay a total of $105,000, which includes $100,000 in monetary damages to women who were harmed as a result of the sexual harassment, and a $5,000 civil penalty.

The consent decree also bars future discrimination, prevents Hernandez from participating in the rental or management of residential properties in the future, requires that Hernandez vacate the premises and leave his post as on-site property manager, mandates Fair Housing Act training and requires extensive monitoring and reporting regarding property management activities and compliance with the terms of the consent decree.

The Justice Department’s lawsuit, filed in 2020, alleged that for more than a decade Hernandez subjected female tenants to harassment that included unwanted sexual touching, including sexual assault, frequent unwelcome sexual advances and comments, offers to reduce rent or excuse late or unpaid rent in exchange for sex and unannounced visits to the homes of female tenants without their consent to make sexual advances.

“Sexual harassment of vulnerable tenants is an egregious violation of the Fair Housing Act,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department is committed to pursuing predatory landlords and property managers and to ensuring that no individual is subject to housing discrimination because of their sex.”

The apartment buildings that Hernandez managed are located at 729 South Bonnie Brae Street and 720 Westlake Avenue in Los Angeles, near MacArthur Park.