U.S. Department
of Justice
United States v. Joseph Earl Lucas (S.D. Ohio)
On January 14, 2025, the Court issued an order in United States v. Joseph Earl Lucas, et al. (S.D. Ohio), requiring Defendant Lucas to supplement his responses to the United States’ discovery requests in several ways, including by providing financial information. On August 26, 2024, the Court denied United Ohio Insurance Company’s motion to intervene as a defendant in this case, holding that the insurance company was not entitled to intervention as of right or permissive intervention. This is a pattern or practice lawsuit in which the United States alleges that Joseph Earl Lucas discriminated on the basis of sex in violation of the Fair Housing Act by sexually harassing female tenants and applicants since at least 2003. The United States filed its original complaint on August 31, 2023, an amended complaint on February 21, 2024, and its second amended complaint on September 16, 2024. The lawsuit alleges that Mr. Lucas requested sex acts from female tenants and applicants, subjected female tenants to unwelcome sexual touching, made unwelcome sexual comments and advances to female tenants and their female guests, repeatedly drove by and entered female tenants’ homes without their permission, demanded that female tenants engage in sex acts with him in order not to lose housing, and offered to reduce rent or excuse late or unpaid rent in exchange for sex acts. The lawsuit also alleges that Mr. Lucas initiated evictions or threatened to evict female tenants who refused his sexual advances. The amended complaint names Jacob Bush, Joie Carr, and Jeremy Carr as defendants in addition to Joseph Earl Lucas. The amended complaint alleges that Jacob Bush, Joie Car, and Jeremy Carr engaged Joseph Earl Lucas to act as their agent to manage Subject Properties they owned or co-owned during relevant times. The second amended complaint adds Emily Bush and alleges that they are vicariously liable for Lucas’s conduct because Lucas acted as their agent when he managed a rental property they owned. The lawsuit, which is the result of a joint investigative effort with the Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General, seeks monetary damages to compensate persons harmed by the alleged harassment, a civil penalty to vindicate the public interest and a court order barring future discrimination.