Lawsuit alleges Baltimore maintenance workers did repairs in exchange for sex
Multiple Baltimore women have filed a suit alleging sexual abuse, assault, and violations of their constitutional rights after they say they were forced to trade sexual favors for badly-needed repairs in their housing project.
The seven women who live in West Baltimore’s Gilmore Homes name maintenance supervisor Clinton Coleman and another worker, claiming they filed multiple complaints that were ignored. They are seeking $10 million for each of the 15 counts.
“These Housing Authority employees routinely harass and abuse the vulnerable women in public housing,” the women allege in the lawsuit, according to The Baltimore Sun. “These defendants are subjecting the tenants to life-threatening living conditions, including but not limited to: mold, lack of heat, rodent and insect infestations and risk of electrocution.”
“These victims are too poor to move and relocate their families,” they continue. “Consequently, they are left with the impossible choice of either succumbing to unwanted sexual demands in order to save themselves and their children from life-threatening conditions in their homes, or, living in squalor.”
There were also concerns for the women’s safety, fore the housing employees had keys to their homes.
One woman said that the mold in her home that continued to go untreated was so bad that “I sometimes cough up blood.”
On Monday, a spokesperson for the Housing Authority of Baltimore City said that the agency is currently reviewing the lawsuit.
Find out more on The Baltimore Sun.
