1. Adopt policies against sexual
harassment; for severe and egregious misconduct but
also for the following:
2. Develop processes for applicants and
tenants to report sexual harassment; • 3. Establish sanctions for employees
and contractors who engage in sexual
harassment; Doing Residents “a favor” by
prioritizing a request over another
Resident;
• 4. Educate employees, contractors,
Residents and applicants about these
policies and the FHA; and Showing preferential treatment,
particularly to someone of a particular
sex;
• Performing off the clock work for
certain Residents;
• Carrying groceries for certain
Residents and not others;
• Flirting with a Resident or sending
inappropriate texts;
• Showing the community to attractive
Applicants and not to others; and
even
• Answering questions for certain
Residents and spending more time
than with others.
5. Enforce these polices against
employees, Residents and contractors who
engage in sexual harassment.
Furthermore, housing experts
recommend that maintenance staff be
required to have basic Fair Housing
training immediately upon being
hired, with a Fair Housing review
class every 1-2 years for updates in the
laws. Maintenance staff are accused of
discrimination and sexual harassment is a
number of ways. Sexual harassment suits
have been filed against maintenance staff
www.aamdhq.org
Management needs to adopt a
policy to deal with all maintenance
requests on a first come, first service
basis, with the exception of emergencies
and not permit maintenance staff to
deviate from this policy. Management
needs to train maintenance staff to
report any accommodation requests
or unusual incidents to management
immediately. And Management needs
to keep good records to fend off claims
of discrimination, whether based on
disability, familial status or sex/gender.
Good customer service is an essential
part of our industry. But knowing the
line between good customer service and
sexual preference or harassment is key.
For information on Fair Housing classes,
please contact Lisa at AAMD.
Dabbie Wilson is a managing partner of Springman,
Branden, Wilson & Pontius, P.C. which specializes in
both eviction and collection services for landlords and
property management companies. She is very active
in local community affairs and testifies at the Capitol
regularly on legislation related to our industry.
MARCH 2018 • TRENDS | 29