GREENSBORO, N.C. (WBTW) – A housing assistance organization covering Robeson and Scotland Counties and two of its former employees must pay nearly $3 million in a settlement surrounding sex bribes. The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the U.S. Attorney, announced the settlement in Greensboro where the original lawsuit was filed.
16 women were part of a lawsuit against the organization and the men. The lawsuit claimed the employees sexually harassed female participants and applicants in the Section 8 public housing program. The women said the two male employees threatened to take away the women’s housing subsidies unless the women had sex with the men or performed oral sex or other sex acts.
The housing agency named in the lawsuit is Southeastern Community and Family Services (SCFS), which has a central office in Lumberton. It was formerly called Four County Community Services, and its office was in Laurinburg. The man accused in the claim are John Wesley, SCFS’s former Section 8 housing coordinator, and Eric Pender, SCFS’s former housing inspector.
SCFS operates in Scotland, Robeson, Hoke, Bladen, Columbus, Brunswick and Pender Counties in North Carolina.
Craig Hensel, of Hensel Law PLLC in Greensboro, originally took the case in 2012. As the case grew other attorneys joined to represent the group of women who came forward: Chris Brancart, of Brancart & Brancart in Loma Mar, CA, and Kelly Clarke, of Legal Aid of North Carolina’s Fair Housing Project.
When the Department of Justice also filed a lawsuit in 2014, SCFS fired Wesley and Pender. The two lawsuits were eventually combined.
The $2.7 million settlement award includes compensation for the women named in the lawsuit, attorneys’ fees and a fund to compensate other victims who have yet to come forward. It is the largest monetary settlement ever agreed to in a sexual harassment case brought by the Justice Department under the Fair Housing Act.
Lawyers for the women suspect that there are several additional Section 8 recipients who were sexually harassed by Wesley and Pender but did not speak up for fear of retaliation. Women who believe they were victims should contact the Fair Housing Project at (855) 797-3247, or the U.S. Department of Justice at 1-800-896-7743, option 94. Any contact must be made within 120 days from the effective date of the Consent Decree, which must be approved by the court.
We want all the victims to know there is nothing to be afraid of anymore,” Hensel said. “Although SCFS did not fire Wesley and Pender until three years after the lawsuit was filed, they’re now gone for good, and other women who were victimized should not hesitate to come forward.”
As part of the Consent Decree negotiated by the Department of Justice, Wesley and Pender are permanently prohibited from having any future involvement with the Section 8 program or property management responsibilities at any residential rental property. SCFS must also appoint an independent manager of its Section 8 program and submit to ongoing monitoring to prevent possible future incidents of sexual harassment.
In previous interviews with WNCN-TV, two of the women explained the threats and attempted bribes they say Wesley and Pender presented.
“He basically was saying if you have sex with me, if you have oral sex with me, I’m going to sign off on this signature for your house to pass inspection,” the original lawsuit plaintiff said of Pender. “It degrades you to the point that you feel like you can change and you can do better in life and then when somebody that’s above you makes you feel like you’re nothing.
Another woman explained her uncomfortable encounters with Wesley.
“He went to say that if I had sex with him and with Pender I could have benefits that week, if not I would have to wait four months,” she said.
Wesley was responsible for approving Section 8 recipients, and Pender conducted inspections of their homes. The women said the men repeatedly demanded sex from them in exchange for awarding them a Section 8 voucher, passing their homes for inspection, increasing the amount of their subsidies and moving them up on the waiting list..
“This is a huge victory for our clients. When they first came forward, no one believed them and they had no hope for justice,” Clarke said. “Now they have a team of lawyers and the U.S. government on their side. That is powerful vindication. We are thankful to the U.S. Department of Justice for its instrumental role in bringing hope and justice to our clients and other women who were victims of this sexual harassment.”Click here to view a copy of the proposed consent decree.
