Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
The Justice Department announced today that the owners and property managers of residential rental properties in Lexington, Kentucky have agreed to pay $850,000 to resolve a lawsuit alleging that two property managers sexually harassed female tenants in violation of the Fair Housing Act.
“Women should never feel unsafe in their own homes,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department is committed to vigorously protecting the rights of vulnerable tenants subjected to sexual harassment and holding housing providers and managers accountable when they violate the law.”
“The harm caused by decades of the defendants’ alleged sexual harassment, which often targeted female tenants perceived as vulnerable because of their need for housing, is difficult to quantify,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul C. McCaffrey for the Eastern District of Kentucky. “This settlement provides some measure of justice for those victims, and aims to eliminate future harassment perpetrated by these defendants against their tenants.”
“Adnan and Mohommed Shalash exploited tenants’ fundamental need for housing to commit serious abuses of power. Today’s settlement sends a clear message: those who abuse vulnerable tenants will be held accountable,” said Special Agent in Charge Shawn Rice of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), Northeast Region. “HUD OIG will not tolerate property managers or anyone in positions of authority using housing as leverage to engage in sexual harassment or abuse and will continue to work with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to hold housing providers accountable for these actions.”
The Department’s lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky in November 2024, and amended in June 2025, alleges that for decades, property managers Adnan and Mohammed Shalash sexually harassed female tenants at various rental dwellings throughout Lexington, Kentucky. The suit alleges Adnan and Mohammed Shalash offered housing-related benefits in exchange for sexual contact, made unwelcome sexual comments and advances to female tenants, entered the homes of female tenants without their permission, subjected female tenants to unwelcome touching and groping and took adverse housing-related actions against female tenants who refused their sexual advances.
The Department’s lawsuit also names as defendants 17 owners of rental properties managed by Adnan and Mohammed Shalash, including Fox Den Properties LLC and Griffith Market Inc. The lawsuit alleges that these defendants are vicariously liable for the sexual harassment committed by their agents, Adnan and Mohommed Shalash.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General participated in the investigation that uncovered the evidence leading to the lawsuit.
Pursuant to the settlement agreement, the defendants must pay $845,000 to tenants who were harmed by Adnan and Mohammed Shalash’s harassment and a $5,000 civil penalty to the United States. The settlement agreement permanently bars Adnan and Mohammed Shalash from contacting tenants harmed by their harassment, permanently bars them from managing residential rental properties, and mandates training and the adoption of policies and procedures to prevent future discrimination at residential rental properties owned or managed by either defendant.
If you are a victim of sexual harassment by another landlord or property manager or have suffered other forms of housing discrimination, call the Justice Department’s Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 1-800-896-7743 or submit a report online. More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at www.justice.gov/crt. This settlement is part of the Justice Department’s Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative. The initiative, which the Department launched in October 2017, seeks to address and raise awareness about sexual harassment by landlords, property managers, maintenance workers, loan officers and other people who have control over housing. Since launching the initiative, the department has filed 52 lawsuits alleging sexual harassment in housing and recovered close to $18 million for victims of such harassment.