ACLU Lawsuit Alleges Sexual Harassment And Unsafe Conditions At Emergency Homeless Shelters in OC laist.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from laist.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Lawsuit Alleges Inhumane Conditions at Orange County Homeless Shelters
Alleged appalling living conditions and persistent abuse at three Orange County, California, emergency homeless shelters have sparked a lawsuit.
Eight plaintiffs allege relentless sexual harassment, invasive body searches, unchecked groping, and lewd propositions from staff members and residents.
The lawsuit, filed on Dec. 10 in Orange County’s Superior Court by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California (ACLU SoCal) and the law firm Kirkland & Ellis, argues that the unlivable environments at the shelters violate California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act and provisions of California’s Constitution.
The shelters Bridges and La Mesa in Anaheim, and The Courtyard in Santa Ana are overcrowded, infested with rodents and bedbugs, and plagued by filthy and broken toilets, unrepaired showers, and extreme temperatures, the suit states.
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The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging that sex abuse, overcrowding and unhealthy conditions are rampant in three Orange County homeless shelters, saying conditions had not improved since it released a scathing 2019 report on the county’s emergency shelters.
“To spend nights in Orange County emergency shelters for people experiencing homelessness, women have had to endure relentless sexual harassment, including highly invasive body searches and voyeurism from staff members, as well as unchecked groping and lewd propositions,” the ACLU said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed in Orange County Superior Court on behalf of 11 shelter residents, alleges sexual abuse, rampant rodent and bedbug infestations, broken toilets and showers and extreme temperatures at the shelters.
Lawsuit alleges unchecked groping and other sex abuse at Orange County, Calif , homeless shelters bakersfield.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bakersfield.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.