Justice Department Lawsuit Accuses State College Landlord of Sexually Harassing Tenant, Retaliation

A State College landlord is facing a federal lawsuit alleging that he sexually harassed a tenant and retaliated against her when she rejected his advances.

The lawsuit filed by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in the U.S. Middle District Court of Pennsylvaniia accuses Venkatachalam Mani of violating the Fair Housing Act. The woman, Justice Department attorneys wrote, was left scrambling for a place to live after Mani failed to repair a furnace in retaliation for her refusal.

According to the complaint, the woman and her four minor children began renting a Waupelani Drive residence from Mani in June 2022. That same month Mani told the woman he would pay her to help him with paperwork at his home.

When she went to Mani’s house, he allegedly showed her a sexually graphic photo, then propositioned, groped and tried to kiss her. The woman told him to stop and fled, according to the filing.

Mani subsequently began to show up at the woman’s residence, telling her she should find a bigger place to live and that she should get renter’s insurance “because the place may go up in flames,” Justice Department attorneys wrote.

The woman began to notify Mani in September 2022 that her furnace was not working and asked that he hire a third party to fix it because of the harassment, according to the complaint. Mani apologized to her in an email, but allegedly showed up at the house uninvited and unannounced the next day, after which the woman reported the incident to State College police and obtained a obtained a Sexual Violence Protection Order from the Centre County Court of Common Pleas.

Despite multiple messages from another person on the woman’s behalf, Mani did not have the furnace repaired until late December, after temperatures had already fallen well below freezing, according to the suit. A few days later, soot appeared on the property from an apparent furnace fire, and a technician who came to inspect the problem deemed the house unsafe for occupancy.

Mani did not make efforts to repair the furnace and offered no assistance for temporary housing, attorneys wrote. The woman was left to ask family and friends for financial assistance and obtain some support from a local housing program to find a new place for her and her children.

“The landlord failed to fix a tenant’s furnace despite freezing temperatures because the female tenant refused his sexual advances, forcing her family to move out with no other place to live,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement. “This conduct is illegal. The Justice Department will uphold the rights of female tenants to housing without the threat of sexual harassment by a landlord.”

Mani was charged in 2023 with indecent assault and harassment and pleaded no contest in 2024. He was ordered to serve two years of probation and to have no contact with the woman and her family.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development began investigating after the woman filed a fair housing complaint in December 2022. Following an investigation, attempted conciliation without success and a final investigative report, HUD charged Mani with discriminatory housing practices and authorized the Attorney General’s Office to commence civil action.

“Attempts to exploit tenants for sexual favors, sexual assault, and retaliation by landlords will never be tolerated in the Middle District of Pennsylvania,” U.S. Attorney Brian D. Miller said in a statement.

The complaint is part of the Justice Department’s Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative launched in 2017 to address and raise awareness about sexual harassment by landlords, property managers, maintenance workers, loan officers and others who have control over housing.

Victims of sexual harassment by a landlord or property manager or of other forms of housing discrimination can call the Justice Department’s Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 1-800-896-7743 or submit a report online.