{"id":28506,"date":"2024-07-20T09:22:04","date_gmt":"2024-07-20T13:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.acenewstoday.com\/?p=28506"},"modified":"2024-07-20T09:22:27","modified_gmt":"2024-07-20T13:22:27","slug":"maryland-sues-eastern-shore-landlord-for-sexually-charged-gender-based-civil-rights-discrimination-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.acenewstoday.com\/maryland-sues-eastern-shore-landlord-for-sexually-charged-gender-based-civil-rights-discrimination-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland sues Eastern Shore landlord for sexually charged gender-based civil rights discrimination practices"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"811\" height=\"320\" src=\"https:\/\/www.acenewstoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/cvr-02-Maryland-Civil-Rights-Division-Office-of-the-Governor.jpg\" alt=\"Ace News Today - Maryland sues Eastern Shore landlord for sexually charged gender-based civil rights discrimination practices\" class=\"wp-image-28507\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.acenewstoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/cvr-02-Maryland-Civil-Rights-Division-Office-of-the-Governor.jpg 811w, https:\/\/www.acenewstoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/cvr-02-Maryland-Civil-Rights-Division-Office-of-the-Governor-300x118.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.acenewstoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/cvr-02-Maryland-Civil-Rights-Division-Office-of-the-Governor-768x303.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.acenewstoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/cvr-02-Maryland-Civil-Rights-Division-Office-of-the-Governor-730x288.jpg 730w, https:\/\/www.acenewstoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/cvr-02-Maryland-Civil-Rights-Division-Office-of-the-Governor-435x172.jpg 435w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 811px) 100vw, 811px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>(Maryland Civil Rights Division, Image credit: Office of the Governor)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">In a \u201chistoric first\u201d for the Office of the Attorney General and the State of Maryland, Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced yesterday that the newly established Civil Rights Division filed its first lawsuit in the Circuit Court for Wicomico County against Eric Sessoms and Mt. Vernon Group, LLC. for engaging in a pattern or practice of gender-based discrimination in housing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Sessoms operates and manages Eastern Shore rental properties owned by Mt. Vernon Group, LLC. The investigation conducted by the Civil Rights Division found that there is reasonable cause to believe that, in his management role, Sessoms subjected women who were tenants and prospective tenants to unwelcome and severe or pervasive sexual harassment in violation of the Fair Housing Act and Maryland\u2019s anti-discrimination laws. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><em>\u201cFor too long predatory landlords have taken advantage of people in financial and housing crisis by abusing their power as housing providers to make sexual demands of tenants or prospective tenants \u2013 often low-income women and single mothers,\u201d\u00a0<\/em>said Attorney General Anthony Brown. <em>\u201cIn Maryland, that ends today. This historic filing puts landlords on notice: you cannot sexually harass your tenants. And if you do, the Office of the Attorney General will take action.\u201d\u202f\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"\">The complaint alleges that Eric Sessoms specifically preyed on vulnerable women either experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, homelessness. He targeted women facing financial difficulties to exploit those vulnerabilities. He offered housing benefits, like reduced rent, in exchange for sexual favors and subjected women tenants and prospective tenants to unwanted sexual advances, unwelcome sexual contact, unsolicited sexual comments, and other egregious conduct in a discriminatory fashion on the basis of his tenants\u2019 and prospective tenants\u2019 gender. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><em>“Maryland is already suffering from a tragic housing crisis, impacting so many families\u2014primarily women with children\u2014who are left with too few options. Landlords, like Sessoms, who take full advantage of women in desperate situations and broker in insidious, gender-based discrimination, cannot be tolerated,”<\/em>\u00a0said Vicki Schultz, Executive Director of Maryland Legal Aid, the state’s largest provider of free civil legal services.\u00a0 <em>“We are proud to have partnered with the Attorney General’s Civil Rights Division on this case from day one, and we will continue collaborating on behalf of Maryland’s most vulnerable people and communities.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The Civil Rights Division seeks injunctive relief, restitution for tenants and prospective tenants harmed by Sessoms\u2019 conduct, civil penalties, and the costs of the investigation and litigation against Eric Sessom and Mt. Vernon Group, LLC. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">It is illegal for landlords to take retaliatory actions against tenants or prospective tenants who refuse a landlord\u2019s sexual advances or who report or object to harassing behavior. If you have any information to share about Eric Sessoms or Mt. Vernon Group LLC., please call 1-833-282-2977 or email <a href=\"mailto:MDvSessoms@oag.state.md.us\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">MDvSessoms@oag.state.md.us<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">You can report civil rights violations to the Office of the Attorney General by email at <a href=\"mailto:civilrights@oag.state.md.us\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">civilrights@oag.state.md.us<\/a> or you can submit a complaint on our website at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov\/Pages\/CivilRights\/default.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov\/Pages\/CivilRights\/default.aspx<\/a> or by calling 410-576-6300 and an investigator will follow up with you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov\/news%20documents\/071924_Maryland_v%20Sessoms_and_Mt_Vernon_Group_LLC_Complaint.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Maryland_v Sessoms_and_Mt_Vernon_Group_LLC_Complaint<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov\/news%20documents\/071924_english_Gender_Based_Discrimination_in_Housing_Factsheet.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">English_Gender_Based_Discrimination_in_Housing_Factsheet<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov\/news%20documents\/071924_Spanish_Gender_Based_Discrimination%20_in_Housing%20Factsheet.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Spanish_Gender_Based_Discrimination _in_Housing Factsheet\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">For more on the story, see the video accompanying this article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Maryland Attorney General files lawsuit against property manager for gender-based discrimination\" width=\"1170\" height=\"658\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BHOVC2GEOmo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">~~~<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">(Source: Maryland Attorney General\u2019s Office)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today<\/em><em><br>Follow Richard on <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/richard.webster.31\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Facebook<\/em><\/a><em>, <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rdwebster\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Twitter<\/em><\/a> <em>& <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/rdwebster54\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Instagram<\/em><\/a><em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The landlord, Eric Sessoms of Mt. Vernon Group, LLC, subjected female tenants and prospective tenants to episodes of unwelcome and severe or pervasive sexual harassment <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28508,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8037,14015,18,66,77,6006,8663,2124,3079,52,1328,607,11,6678,4481],"tags":[18299,2522,10870,18298,18293,18296,18300,18301,7393,126,18297,18294,18295,244,2870,942],"class_list":["post-28506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-assault","category-civil-rights","category-crime-courts","category-crimes-against-children","category-domestic-violence","category-government","category-human-interest","category-local","category-police","category-public-health-and-safety","category-recalls-and-alerts","category-sex-crimes","category-top-news","category-video","category-violent-crimes","tag-attorney-general-anthony-g-brown","tag-civil-rights","tag-civil-rights-violations","tag-discrimination","tag-eric-sessoms","tag-eric-sessoms-mt-vernon-group-llc","tag-fair-housing-act","tag-gender-based-discrimination-in-housing","tag-homelessness","tag-maryland","tag-maryland-attorney-general","tag-maryland-eastern-shore","tag-mt-vernon-group-llc","tag-sexual-harassment","tag-sexual-predators","tag-wicomico-county","clearfix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acenewstoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acenewstoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acenewstoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acenewstoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acenewstoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28506"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.acenewstoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28510,"href":"https:\/\/www.acenewstoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28506\/revisions\/28510"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acenewstoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acenewstoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acenewstoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acenewstoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}