Green Bay landlord to pay $50,000, face federal oversight in Fair Housing Act harassment settlement

Settlement resolves Fair Housing Act lawsuit

GREEN BAY, Wis. — A Green Bay landlord accused of groping a tenant, making sexual comments and trying to evict her after she asserted her rights has agreed to pay $50,000 and submit to two years of federal oversight under a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice.

The consent agreement, filed March 3 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin and announced publicly the next day, resolves a civil lawsuit the government brought last summer under the Fair Housing Act. Prosecutors said landlord David Jones and his company, D. Jones Properties LLC, subjected a female tenant to “severe, pervasive and unwelcome sexual harassment” in violation of federal civil-rights law.

Jones and his company deny the allegations, and the settlement states it is not an admission of liability. But it requires them to compensate the tenant, change how they run their rental business and allow federal officials to monitor their compliance through early 2028.

Part of DOJ’s nationwide enforcement effort

The case is the latest action in the Justice Department’s Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative, a nationwide enforcement effort launched in 2017 that has produced 52 lawsuits and more than $19 million in relief for victims, according to the department.

“Women should never have to fear sexual harassment from the people who control their housing,” the head of the department’s Civil Rights Division said in the announcement. The settlement, the official added, shows that federal authorities “will vigorously enforce the Fair Housing Act to protect vulnerable tenants and hold housing providers accountable.”

How the case reached federal court

The lawsuit, filed July 24, 2025, grew out of a complaint tenant Zsatavia Vales submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD investigated and issued a formal charge of discrimination. The matter was then transferred to the Justice Department, which brought the case in federal court on Vales’ behalf under a provision of the Fair Housing Act that allows the government to litigate HUD “election” cases.

In court papers, prosecutors said Jones manages multiple rental properties in Green Bay. They alleged that while Vales was renting from him, he made unwanted sexual remarks, grabbed her without consent and entered her home without permission. When she asserted her rights under federal fair-housing law, the complaint alleged, Jones sought to evict her in retaliation.

The government argued that the alleged conduct violated multiple sections of the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of sex and other protected characteristics. Federal regulations and longstanding agency guidance treat sexual harassment by landlords, property managers and others who control housing as a form of sex discrimination.

Payments and bankruptcy clause

Under the settlement, Jones and D. Jones Properties must pay Vales $50,000 in damages:

• $10,000 within 15 days of the settlement’s effective date
• $40,000 within 120 days

The money will be distributed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin after Vales signs a standard release.

The agreement also states the damages constitute a debt arising from “willful and malicious injury” that cannot be discharged in bankruptcy, and Jones and his company agree they will not seek to eliminate the obligation through a bankruptcy filing.

Training, policies and a no-contact requirement

Beyond financial compensation, the settlement imposes compliance measures that will reshape how Jones manages his rentals.

Within 180 days, Jones must complete a live training program—either in person or online—covering the Fair Housing Act with a focus on sex discrimination and sexual harassment. The training must be conducted by a qualified third party unaffiliated with Jones or his attorneys and approved by the Justice Department. Jones must then certify in writing that he attended and understood the training.

The defendants must also draft and adopt a written nondiscrimination policy and complaint procedure explicitly addressing sexual harassment in housing. Within 14 days of the settlement’s effective date, they must submit the policy to the Justice Department for review. Once the department raises no objection, Jones must provide the policy to all current tenants, employees, agents and anyone involved in renting or managing properties he owns or controls. The policy must be attached to every new lease or rental agreement.

In addition, Jones and his company must post “Equal Housing Opportunity” signs meeting federal standards in any office where they conduct rental business, in a prominent and well-lit location.

The settlement further bars Jones and anyone acting on his behalf from purposefully or knowingly contacting Vales in any way—including in person, by phone, in writing, through social media or through third parties—except as required by law.

Oversight and reporting

The agreement remains in force for two years. Jones and his company must submit compliance reports to the Justice Department at the six-month and two-year marks, confirming they have implemented the nondiscrimination policy, distributed it to tenants and staff, posted required signage, completed training and honored the no-contact order.

After full payment is made and proof is provided, the parties will jointly ask the court to dismiss the case with prejudice, formally ending the litigation.

U.S. Attorney Gregory Haanstad, whose office in Milwaukee handled the case along with the Civil Rights Division, said in a statement that the settlement “sends a clear message” that sexual harassment and retaliation in housing “will not be tolerated.”

“No one should ever have to endure sexual harassment to keep a roof over their head,” he said.

Context: similar Wisconsin case and broader initiative

The Green Bay case is not the first recent sexual-harassment-in-housing lawsuit brought by federal civil-rights enforcers in Wisconsin. In 2022, the Justice Department sued Janesville landlord Richard “Rick” Donahue, alleging that over more than two decades he repeatedly harassed female tenants, entered their homes without consent, demanded sexual favors in exchange for rent or repairs, and retaliated against women who refused or complained.

That case ended in 2024 with a consent decree requiring Donahue and his wife to pay $623,965, including $500,000 to 13 victims and a $123,965 civil penalty to the government. The order also permanently barred the couple from managing rental properties. Local reports said more than 100 families were affected as Donahue’s properties changed hands or tenants were moved, prompting Janesville officials to establish a housing-assistance fund.

Compared with the Janesville decree, the Jones settlement is smaller in scope and does not include a civil penalty or a ban on future property management. But both cases rest on the same legal foundation: when a landlord leverages control over housing to demand sexual access or retaliate against tenants, that conduct is not just abusive but unlawful discrimination under federal civil-rights law.

Justice Department officials say the Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative, created in October 2017, is designed to uncover such cases, raise awareness and deter future misconduct. The department has brought cases against landlords, property managers and maintenance workers in urban and rural communities around the country, often alleging that they pressured women for sex in exchange for rent breaks, repairs or avoiding eviction.

Advocates and researchers say those lawsuits represent only a fraction of the harassment tenants face. Low-income renters, single mothers and women of color may be particularly vulnerable, especially in tight housing markets where the alternative to enduring abuse may be homelessness or a shelter.

Federal officials emphasize that tenants who believe they have been harassed or discriminated against can file complaints with HUD or contact the Justice Department, and that retaliation for asserting fair-housing rights is itself illegal.

For Vales, the Green Bay tenant whose complaint triggered the Jones lawsuit, the settlement offers compensation and a court-enforced order that her former landlord stay away. For Jones, it brings an end to the litigation but imposes new rules, training and scrutiny over how he does business.

For other landlords and tenants in Wisconsin and beyond, the case underscores that what happens behind closed doors in rental housing can reach into federal court—and that the power to control someone’s home carries legal responsibilities as well as financial ones.