For at least seven years, a Clearfield County landlord sexually harassed his female tenants, groped some of them and offered rent discounts in exchange for sex, according to a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit.
Timothy Britton of DuBois, who did business as “Tim’s Apartments,” is named in the complaint along with his company, Britton Enterprises. The company is based in Falls Creek and has 40 properties there and in DuBois, Brockway and Reynoldsville.
The complaint said Britton has been harassing women since 2016 and threatening to retaliate if they resisted, all in violation of the Fair Housing Act.
DOJ said Britton has made numerous unwelcome sexual comments to women, touched them, asked for sex, offered reduced or free rent for sex and took action against those who refused his advances.
“In this day and age, no one should have to endure sexual harassment to keep a roof over their head,” said Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general at DOJ’s civil rights division.
The complaint includes various examples of lecherous behavior.
From November 2018 through April 2021, for example, Britton made repeated sexual comments toward a female tenant, telling her once that she had left him with “half a semi,” meaning a partial erection. He also pinched her butt twice, the complaint said.
When she filed a complaint with HUD, he tried to evict her, according to the suit.
In another case from 2017 and 2018, he told a woman he’d reduce her rent if she’d have sex with him. When she was pregnant, he told her, “You do know I like big women because they’re fun to play with” and after she had the baby said that “maybe now you’ll fool around,” the suit says.
In 2019 and 2020, Britton told another woman she wouldn’t have to pay rent if she had sex with him, according to the suit. When the heat cut out, he told her they could stay warm in bed together.
The suit said there are other such instances that constitute a pattern of sexual harassment against women since at least 2016.
The complaint is seeking compensatory damages, civil penalties and a court order barring future discrimination and retaliation.
The suit was brought as part of a DOJ crackdown on sexual harassment in housing launched in 2017 under which the civil rights division brings suits across the country in conjunction with local U.S. attorney’s offices. DOJ has filed 32 such suits and recovered $10.8 million for victims to date.
Torsten covers the courts for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Reach him at jtorsteno@gmail.com.
