October 17, 2019 | Categories: About the FHC, News, Press Release | Tags: discrimination, lansing, Lansing State Journal, lawsuit, national origin, Sexual Harassment, WILX
Sarah Yoder contacted the Fair Housing Center in August 2018 to file a sexual harassment complaint against Ryan McDonell. Ms. Yoder, a 39-year-old Native American woman, stated that she had gone to view a one-bedroom house listed for $700/month in Lansing and that Mr. McDonell gave her a tour.
Later that day, she asked Mr. McDonell, via text, if the rent was negotiable. McDonell responded; “I bet your (sic) more fun to negotiate with in person.” Later text messages include asking Ms. Yoder to do a striptease for him. Ms. Yoder’s text response was that she was “not a prostitute or a stripper” and she declined to respond to his subsequent text messages, including him asking “u mad that I asked u to wear something cute so I could check u out?”
The case, filed in Federal Court on September 9, 2019, has been assigned to the honorable Robert J. Jonker.
We will keep you informed as the case progresses.