Student employees allege sexual assaults and harassment by ICON Apartments supervisors
ISLA VISTA, Calif. (KEYT) – Article Student Living LLC, a nationwide student housing-focused company that operates as ICON Apartments in Isla Vista, is facing two civil lawsuits from former student employees alleging repeated harassment, discrimination, and sexual assaults by supervisors.
The lawsuits, one filed in February and the other just last month in Santa Barbara County Superior Court, detailed the experiences of two former employees -only identified in court documents as Jane Does- who were attending UC Santa Barbara during the time of the allegations.
Both plaintiffs worked for Article Student Living LLC in the leasing offices for ICON Apartments as community assistants with one starting in April of 2023 and the other starting in August of 2023.
Article Student Living LLC is a nationwide company that offers over 25,000 beds across 48 properties in major university markets including Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Columbia, Austin, New Haven, Iowa City, Lansing, and Chicago.
The Chicago-based corporation owns ICON Apartments in Isla Vista the local property management company shows on its website.
The February lawsuit detailed that Brett Williams -a named defendant in both lawsuits and the property manager and supervisor for both plaintiffs-, "routinely let himself into Plaintiff's and her co-worker's apartments without their consent, using his universal key. Plaintiff knew that Defendant Williams frequently did this to one of her co-workers and coerced her into having sexual encounters with him."
According to the lawsuits, in September of 2023, Williams is alleged to have sexually assaulted one of the plaintiffs when she was 18 after providing her alcohol, letting himself into her room using a master key, and threatening to have her fired if she told anyone afterwards.
The 27-year-old supervisor is alleged to have made a video of the sexual assault and shared it with another employee named in the October lawsuit, Javier Romero, who worked as the Leasing Manager.
Romero is alleged to have joined Williams in the plaintiff's room where both men pressured the teen to perform oral and anal sex and both men digitally penetrated her against her will stated the October lawsuit.
The plaintiff told Romero later in his apartment that she felt she had been coerced into and felt violated by what happened noted the lawsuit.
In response, Romero is alleged to have started kissing the plaintiff before sexually assaulting her and then told her not to tell anyone detailed the October lawsuit.
Later the same month, Williams is alleged to have again used his employee access to enter the plaintiff's room without her consent while she was taking a shower and warned her not to tell anyone about the sexual encounters while threatening to fire her explained the lawsuit.
Williams is also alleged to let himself into the plaintiff's apartment another time in September of 2023 where he sexually assaulted her again added the lawsuit.
The employees also alleged in the civil suit that Williams created a hostile work environment by making repeated comments about the plaintiff's looks, physically touching and throwing them, pressuring them and other employees -some of whom were underage- to drink while working as well as after work, making racially charged comments and statements, and taking video of a female coworker urinating.
According to an attorney for both plaintiffs, they were told that Williams was previously accused of racial discrimination and sexual harassment at a previous employer and had faced disciplinary actions.
"Upon information and belief, Defendant Article Student Living knew or should have known of Defendant Williams’ history of misconduct, including his termination from his prior place of employment due to racial and sexual harassment allegations against him," stated both lawsuits. "Despite this, Defendant Article Student Living employed Defendant Williams, allowing him to harass Plaintiff and her co-workers."
Despite fears of retaliation, the plaintiffs along with multiple other female employees filed a written complaint with Article Student Living LLC's human resources in September of 2023 stated the lawsuit.
The attorney representing both women shared that neither woman filed a report with law enforcement when asked by Your News Channel.
According to the lawsuits, the plaintiff in the lawsuit filed in February resigned from her position on in late November of 2023 and the plaintiff in the lawsuit filed in October resigned in early December of the same year.
Your News Channel reached out to Article Student Living LLC, ICON Apartments, and UC Santa Barbara multiple times for statement and more information and their respective responses will be added to this article when they are received.
If you or anyone you know has been subjected to sexual violence, you can contact:
- Santa Barbara County's Sexual Assault Response Team which includes a UCSB-specific hotline at 805-893-4613
- The Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Victim Services Office
- Residents of Santa Barbara County can also reach out to non-profit Standing Together to End Sexual Assault
- California residents can contact the Office of Victim and Survivor Rights and Services or the California Attorney General's Victim Services Unit or these other statewide programs
- Nationwide, survivors of sexual assault or other crimes can also contact the National Center for Victims of Crime
