BELLEVILLE - A Bellville couple has filed a lawsuit claiming their landlord began a campaign of harassment against them after her sexual advances were rebuffed.
Plaintiffs Joseph Murray and Michelle Kious filed a lawsuit in the St. Clair County Circuit Court against defendant Sally Abraham, citing violations of the state's Fair Housing Act.
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs rented a property from the defendant and moved into the residence on May 15, 2020. The plaintiffs claim Abraham was jealous of their relationship and repeatedly asked Murray to break up with Kious and date her instead. Abraham also allegedly made repeated sexual advances towards Murray, which he refused.
The plaintiffs claim Abraham began to escalate her behavior, including lying about the plaintiffs. Abraham then allegedly began to send them threatening text messages on a daily basis. When the plaintiffs asked her to stop this behavior, the defendant threatened to have Kious arrested for trespassing even though she had signed an agreement to live at the property, the suit states. Abraham then allegedly told the plaintiffs that she would falsify documents to get Kious evicted. She also allegedly let the plaintiffs know that she looked up the personal information about Kious' family.
Kious alleges that as a result of of the harassment, she suffered a heart attack and ended up in the ICU. She claims Abraham was aware of her hospitalization. On July 25, 2021, Abraham told the plaintiffs that unless the rent for August 2021 was paid immediately, they would be evicted. At the time, the plaintiffs state that they were up to date on their rent.
The plaintiffs state that on Aug. 9, 2021, they filed a protection order against Abraham. According to the lawsuit, Abraham responded by breaking into the property in retaliation and stole most of Kious' personal property. She then allegedly said she would return the stolen property if they would drop the protection order. When the plaintiffs refused, Abraham began to issue fake eviction notices to try to get them to leave and even had their cable TV and wi-fi internet blocked, the suit states. The plaintiffs allege that the unwanted sexual advances and text messaged continued through July 2022.
The plaintiffs are seeking damages in excess of $100,000, plus court costs, attorney fees and any other relief the court deems proper. They are represented in this case by attorney Sheryl Ring in McHenry.
St. Clair County Circuit Court case number 22LA0648