Landlord evicted and retaliated against women who refused his sexual advances, feds say

Female tenants who rented from a Pennsylvania landlord faced unwelcome touching, sexual comments and other forms of harassment for years, according to federal authorities.

The women who turned down his advances were evicted or faced other forms of retaliation, authorities said.

Now, the Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against property owner Timothy Britton and business Britton Enterprises LLC, which operates as Tim’s Apartments in the area of Falls Creek, Pennsylvania.

The lawsuit was filed May 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, records show.

Prosecutors said from at least 2016 through the date of the filing, Britton has discriminated against tenants based on their sex and has sexually harassed renters.

A defense attorney was not listed in public court records as of May 22. McClatchy News requested comment from Tim’s Apartments and did not immediately hear back.

“Britton made repeated and unwelcome sexual comments to female tenants, touched female tenants’ bodies without their permission, requested sexual contact, offered reduced or free rent in exchange for sexual contact and took retaliatory actions against female tenants who refused his sexual advances,” officials said in a May 19 news release.

In one example provided in the complaint, authorities said Britton harassed a tenant from about November 2018 to April 2021. He made sexual comments toward her, pinched her buttocks without consent and “made the female tenant feel uncomfortable and not safe in her home,” officials said.

She filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, then Britton started the eviction process, according to the lawsuit.

Britton made sexual comments to another woman between June 2017 and April 2018, officials said. He offered to lower her rent payment if she’d engage in sexual acts with the landlord, according to the lawsuit.

Authorities said these examples are part of Britton’s “longstanding pattern or practice of illegal sexual harassment of multiple tenants from at least 2016 to the present.”

“In this day and age, no one should have to endure sexual harassment to keep a roof over their head,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in the release. “This lawsuit makes clear that the Justice Department stands ready to hold accountable those landlords and housing providers who unlawfully harass and retaliate against tenants. We encourage survivors to speak out when their rights are violated so that we can vindicate their fair housing rights and secure the relief they deserve.”

Falls Creek is about 100 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

If you have experienced sexual assault and need someone to talk to, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline for support at 1-800-656-4673 or visit the hotline's online chatroom.

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