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BUSINESS Saturday 26 September 2020
Landlords suing to push back against eviction ban

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI and tute.
ADRIAN SAINZ Still, housing advocates
Associated Press have offered only tepid
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — As support of the moratorium,
millions of Americans strug- warning that without more
gle to pay their rent during federal help for people
the coronavirus pandem- who are unemployed and
ic, landlords are going to behind on their rent in
courts, claiming that the pandemic, it only delays a
national eviction morato- pending eviction wave.
rium unfairly strains their fi- "I think there are a lot of
nances and violates their people still struggling eco-
property rights. nomically. Those are the
At least 26 such lawsuits people who are being kept
have been filed by proper- in their housing right now
ty owners this year, includ- because of the CDC's or-
ing several federal chal- der, said Katy Ramsey Ma-
lenges of President Donald son, an assistant law pro-
Trump's directive, delivered fessor at the University of
by the Centers for Disease Memphis.
Control and Prevention, The CDC's order notably
that broadly prevents evic- didn't include financial
tions through the end of help for landlords, forcing
2020. many to consider selling
In Memphis, seven land- their properties as rents go
lords who together man- Buildings at Hunter Oaks Apartments undergo renovations on Tuesday. Sept. 22, 2020, in Memphis, unpaid. This could ultimate-
age or own more than Tenn. ly cause an even greater
5,000 rental units sued this Associated Press loss of affordable housing.
month, accusing Trump "In a way I am surprised it
and other federal officials Memphis says. These land- health. The agency put it in hardships, and affirm that took so long for this lawsuit
of unconstitutionally violat- lords are required by law the context of other histor- they are likely to become to show up," Mason said.
ing their due process pro- to spend money on repairs ic, unprecedented and ex- homeless if evicted. These challenges are par-
tections and wrongly pre- and upkeep of the rental ceedingly rare government The CDC's directive was ticularly significant in Mem-
empting state laws. The homes, but aren't getting responses to the pandem- handed down just as many phis, where mass foreclo-
National Apartment Asso- federal help under the ban, ic, and said stopping evic- other eviction bans — in- sures in the Great Reces-
ciation joined a separate it says. tions is an effective way of cluding the CARES Act's sion that followed the 2008
federal lawsuit this month in Housing advocates worry preventing the spread of eviction moratorium, which housing market collapse
Georgia against the CDC. that overturning these bans the coronavirus. covered an estimated 12 forced much of the city's
Another legal battle has could cause homelessness To be eligible for this pro- million people in federally Black middle class to lose
been filed in Ohio. to spike, forcing people to tection, renters must earn supported housing — were ownership of single-family
"All plaintiffs have tenants crowd into indoor spaces $198,000 or less for couples set to expire. homes. Out-of-state invest-
in units who are delinquent and shelters and worsening filing jointly, or $99,000 for This sparked alarm, since ment companies snapped
in the payment of rent the spread of infection. single filers; demonstrate more than 20 million renters up these properties and
and who would be other- The CDC's directive, which that they've sought govern- live in households that have turned them into rentals,
wise lawfully evicted from took effect Sept. 4, is based ment help to pay the rent; suffered COVID-19-related said Daniel Schaffzin, who
the units ... but for the halt on the agency's broad declare that they can't jobs losses, according to a teaches law at the Univer-
order," the complaint in powers to protect public pay because of COVID-19 report from the Aspen Insti- sity of Memphis.q

Google parent agrees to $310M

misconduct lawsuit settlement

NEW YORK (AP) — Google's par- Rubin received $90 million in sev- pledging $310 million toward diver-
ent company has reached a $310 erance even though several em- sity, equity and inclusion programs
million settlement in a shareholder ployees had filed misconduct al- over 10 years. It is also setting up
lawsuit over its treatment of allega- legations against him. Sharehold- an advisory committee to monitor
tions of executives' sexual miscon- er lawsuits followed, and in 2019 how it handles sexual misconduct In this July 25, 2017, file photo, Alpha-
duct. Google launched a board investi- allegations against its executives. bet stock is shown on a screen at the
Alphabet Inc. said Friday that it gation over how it handles sexual "This settlement will not only Nasdaq MarketSite in New York.
Associated Press
will prohibit severance packages misconduct allegations. change and improve the culture
for anyone fired for misconduct or In January, David Drummond, the at Google, but it will set the stan- mandatory arbitration for worker
is the subject of a sexual miscon- Alphabet's legal chief, left without dard for culture change at tech disputes, will be extended to all of
duct investigation. A special team an exit package, following accu- companies throughout Silicon Val- Alphabet's divisions. Mandatory ar-
will investigate any allegations sations of inappropriate relation- ley," said Ann Ravel, an attorney bitration requires employees to set-
against executives and report to ships with employees. The compa- from Renne Public Law Group who tle their disputes with the compa-
the board's audit committee. ny didn't give a reason for his de- led parts of the settlement nego- ny privately and outside of court.
Thousands of Google employ- parture, but claims against Drum- tiation. The practice, widespread in U.S.
ees walked out of work in protest mond were included in the board The changes, as well as changes employment contracts, can lend
in 2018 after The New York Times investigation. that had already been imple- itself to secrecy and has faced
revealed Android creator Andy With the settlement, Alphabet is mented at Google, such as ending criticism.q