Approximately 80 percent of women will experience a form of sexual harassment during their life.[1] In July 2024, Maryland filed a groundbreaking lawsuit, a sexual harassment in housing case, under the new Civil Rights Division aimed at enforcing anti-discrimination laws.[2] The Civil Rights Division emerged as a response to the pervasive issue of individuals violating Maryland’s civil rights laws such as the discrimination of race, sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation to name a few.[3] Furthermore, the Maryland Attorney General tasked the Civil Rights Division with educating citizens about their rights, providing an online reporting system and hotline[4], investigating alleged violations, and seeking justice for the victims.[5] The Civil Rights Division now enables tenants and prospective tenants to seek justice without the financial strain and psychological burdens of litigation as plaintiffs.[6] The inaugural case of the Civil Rights Division addresses sexual harassment in housing. In the present matter, the State of Maryland sued Eric Sessoms and his company–– Mt. Vernon Group, LLC–– in Circuit Court for Wicomico County, alleging that Sessoms, the landlord, exploited at least five financially vulnerable women by demanding sexual favors for reduced rent and threatening eviction if the women did not comply.[7] The complaint stated that Sessoms violated both the Fair Housing Act and Maryland’s anti-discrimination laws.[8]

Despite Sessoms relatively short tenure as a landlord since 2018, he accumulated a record of legal infractions, such as managing properties without the required licenses and maintaining unsafe conditions for tenants.[9] “Maryland is already suffering from a tragic housing crisis, impacting many families–– primarily women with children–– who are left with too few options. Landlords, like Sessoms, who take full advantage of women in desperate situations and broker in insidious, gender-based discrimination, cannot be tolerated.”[10] Sexual harassment seldomly occurs in isolation.[11] Hence, Sessom’s involvement in other legal actions illustrates how such cases can expose broader issues, potentially implicating other landlords who endanger or abuse their tenants.[12]

Sexual harassment typically involves men perpetrating against women.[13] Furthermore, when a male landlord wields power over a woman on the brink of homelessness and struggling to support her family, she may feel compelled to acquiesce.[14] Sexual harassment often leaves victims with increased anxiety and depression, which can deter them from reporting the abuse or seeking to stop the perpetrator.[15]

Maryland’s anti-harassment laws extend beyond sexual favors, encompassing derogatory comments about a woman’s appearance or the sharing of explicit content.[16] Addressing sexual harassment effectively requires a cultural shift that enforces accountability through government intervention.[17] Maryland v. Sessoms aims to encourage more citizens, especially women to report incidents and deter potential perpetrators from future violations.[18] Attorney General Brown remains committed to advancing investigations and trials, expressing optimism about safeguarding Maryland’s citizens from gender discrimination in housing.[19]

Morgane Barry is a third-year evening student at the University of Baltimore School of Law and a Staff Editor for Law Forum. Morgane originally hails from Raleigh, North Carolina and graduated cum laude from North Carolina State University in 2012 with an unconventional Bachelor of Science degree in Fashion and Textile Management and minor in Art and Design. Currently, Morgane has made a home for herself in Rockville, Maryland and works full time as a title agent at Legacy Settlement Services. At the University of Baltimore, Morgane is President of the Real Estate Law Association and interned with the Honorable Judge Karen Ferretti in the District Court of Montgomery County, in-house counsel of the Donohoe Companies, Inc., and law firm Batoff Associates, P.A. Morgane looks forward to clerking next summer at law firm Mcnees Wallace & Nurick LLC. She expects to graduate May 2026 and pursue a career in real estate and corporate law.

[1] Holly Kearl, The Facts Behind the #Metoo Movement: A National Study on Sexual Harassment and Assault, Stop St. Harassment 1, 7 (Feb. 2018), https://www.nsvrc.org/sites/default/files/2021-04/full-report-2018-national-study-on-sexual-harassment-and-assault.pdf.

[2] Press Release, Anthony G. Brown, Md. Att’y Gen., Attorney General Brown Files Lawsuit Against Eastern Shore Landlord for Violating Civil Rights Laws (July 19, 2024), https://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/press/2024/071924.pdf.

[3] Id.; see also Civil Rights Division, Md. Att’y Gen., https://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/Pages/CivilRights/default.aspx (last visited Sep. 4, 2024) (“[T]o protect Marylanders no matter their race, color, religion, or creed, sex, age, ancestry or national origin, marital status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity.”).

[4] Civil Rights Division, Md. Att’y Gen., https://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/Pages/CivilRights/default.aspx (last visited Sep. 4, 2024) (directing victims to hotline telephone number 1-886-481-8461).

[5] Id.

[6] See Brown, supra note 2.

[7] Brown, supra note 2.

[8] Id.

[9] Landmark Case of Alleged Gender-Based Housing Discrimination was Announced Today by Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, E. Shore Undercover (July 19, 2024), https://www.easternshoreundercover.com/news2/landmark-case-of-alleged-gender-based-housing-discrimination-was-announced-today-by-maryland-attorney-general-anthony-brown.htm.

[10] Id. (quoting Vicki Schultz Maryland Legal Aid Executive Director working with Civil Rights Division).

[11] See id.

[12] See id.

[13] E.g., Kearl, supra note 1, at 7-8; but see, e.g., Kearl, supra note 1, at 7 (acknowledging the sexual harassment of men).

[14] See Brown, supra note 2.

[15] See, e.g., Kearl, supra note 1, at 8.

[16] Know Your Rights Gender Based Discrimination in Housing, Md. Off. of the Att’y Gen. Civ. Rts Div., https://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/news%20documents/071924_english_Gender_Based_Discrimination_in_Housing_Factsheet.pdf (last visited Sep. 5, 2024).

[17] See Kearl, supra note 1, at 33.

[18] See Brown, supra note 2.

[19] Id.