MOUNT VERNON – Landlord Junior Warren owes $20,000 to a renter who paid a utility bill with sex, Fifth District appellate judges ruled on Dec. 2.
They upheld a finding of the state human rights commission that Warren sexually harassed a tenant and caused emotional distress.
The tenant claimed she solicited sex with him.
Justice Randy Moore wrote, “We find Mr. Warren’s argument to be outrageous.”
Moore wrote that the commission determined credibility and its conclusions are to be deemed true and correct.
The tenant complained to the human rights department in 2015, and administrative law judge Michael Robinson held a hearing in 2016.
The tenant testified that she rented an apartment in East St. Louis in March 2013, when she was 20 years old and had a child.
She stated she paid Warren $350 for the first month and a $350 deposit.
She stated her lease held her responsible for utilities, but they were in his name.
She stated she couldn’t move the utilities to her name because she had a balance due from when she lived with her grandmother.
She stated he told her she could pay by “cash or ass.”
“Shortly thereafter, early in the morning, the lights turned off in the apartment. She went outside and Mr. Warren was standing there,” Moore wrote.
“He told her that Ameren had just left and turned off the lights.”
The tenant testified that she asked what she could do to get the lights back on until she could pay Ameren.
She stated he said, “We’re both grown and we can work something out.”
“Because she had no money, it was cold outside, and she wanted heat for her son, she had sexual relations with Mr. Warren,” Moore wrote.
The tenant testified that the lights came on as soon as he left.
She stated she learned later that Ameren didn’t visit the property.
She stated he continued making advances and she refused.
She stated she paid rent until July 2013, when she told him she couldn’t pay the full amount on time.
A deputy sheriff served an eviction notice a day after the due date.
The notice stated that $0 rent was due.
Warren had signed the notice in June, when she owed nothing.
Warren testified that he resided in Fairview Heights, he was 56 years old, and he was married 15 years.
He stated he didn’t have sex with the tenant and didn’t offer to pay utilities in exchange for sex.
In 2018, administrative law judge Robinson recommended that the human rights department dismiss the tenant's complaint.
Robinson found Warren’s conduct didn’t affect the terms or privileges of her tenancy.
He found the tenant failed to show that any harassment was based on her gender.
He found Warren articulated a nondiscriminatory reason for evicting the tenant.
Human rights commissioners reversed his recommendation in 2019, finding provision of utilities was a privilege of tenancy.
They remanded the case to Robison, who found $20,000 was a fair assessment as to the emotional damages the tenant experienced.
The commission adopted his conclusion last year and ordered Warren to pay a $7,500 civil penalty to the human rights department.
Warren petitioned for another hearing, and the commission denied it.
Warren appealed to Fifth District judges, who found evidence that Warren made advances before and after the electricity incident.
According to Moore, the fact that Freeman succumbed to his demands didn’t negate the elements of sexual harassment.
He quoted the tenatn's testimony that she felt depressed, worthless, and like an object for sale.
“We would not substitute our judgment for that of the commission as to the monetary value of these damages, and so decline to disturb the award,” Moore wrote.
Kalila Jackson of Equal Housing and Opportunity Council in St. Louis represented the tenant.
Assistant attorney general Samuel Stragand represented the human rights commission and department.
Gary Mack of Belleville represented Warren.