Former employee accuses housing advocate of sexual harassment

MOUNT HOLLY — A former case manager says she was repeatedly sexually harassed by affordable housing advocate Kent Pipes while working at his Westampton nonprofit, according to a lawsuit filed earlier this year. He has categorically denied the allegations and filed a countersuit.

Georgina Jalloh is suing her former boss and his company, The Affordable Homes Group, for sexual harassment, gender discrimination, retaliation, assault and battery. Jalloh alleges Pipes coerced her into performing sexual favors for money and that she feared she would be fired if she didn’t comply.

Pipes admits in court documents to having a sexual relationship with his former employee but denied Jalloh's accusation he assaulted her and paid her for sex. Pipes instead describes a deliberate campaign by Jalloh to seduce him and manipulate him into giving her an estimated $70,000 to $80,000. Pipes is counter suing Jalloh for fraud.

Pipes directed questions about the lawsuit to his attorney, but noted no decision has been reached in the case.

“Allegations are just allegations,” Pipes said Wednesday when reached about the lawsuit.

Pipes confirmed The Affordable Homes Group has a sexual-harassment policy, but refused to say whether he violated the policy.

His attorney, John Pribish, also declined to comment, citing his law firm’s policy on discussing active litigation.

Jalloh's attorney, Matthew Luber, declined to answer questions but said in an emailed statement: “This case involves the precise conduct the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination was designed to protect. As alleged in the complaint, Mr. Pipes engaged in lecherous behavior, using his position of power to prey upon female employees. No one should have to endure what Ms. Jalloh endured, and she looks forward to her day in court.”

Pipes is an ordained minister and has been an outspoken advocate for social-justice issues in Burlington County for more than 30 years. He established The Affordable Homes Group in 2000 as an umbrella organization for three local nonprofit organizations that specialize in below-market-rate housing and services for the homeless.

The organization also includes Delta Real Estate, which acts as the broker in real estate transactions.

The Salt and Light Co., the oldest of Pipes' nonprofits, regularly receives government funding, and a number of Burlington County municipalities have come to rely on the organization to help them fill their state-mandated affordable housing quotas. Salt and Light owns dozens of housing units in Burlington County, and in 2016 collected $1.6 million in rent, according to the most recent available financial records.

Jalloh was hired by The Affordable Homes Group as a case manager in June 2013.

Pipes began sexually harassing her shortly after she joined his company, according to Jalloh's complaint, filed in Superior Court in February.

Pipes, the company president and CEO, commented on Jalloh's body and appearance and eventually showed her a video of a woman in her underwear getting dressed, Jalloh said in court documents.

When Jalloh met with her boss in November 2017 to discuss an advance on her paycheck, Pipes allegedly exposed himself in his office and said “I will help you if you help me,” according to Jalloh’s account in the lawsuit.

Jalloh left Pipes’ office, but when a similar incident unfolded a few days later she “sadly and shamefully” complied, court documents state.

Pipes began requesting sex on a regular basis, often using vacant company properties and for-sale properties to conduct the interaction, Jalloh alleges in the suit. Pipes also began to stalk Jalloh and habitually parked his car across the street from Jalloh’s house to monitor her activities, according to court documents.

Other supervisors at the company were aware of Pipes’ behavior but did not investigate or take action, Jalloh said in the lawsuit.

Jalloh said she feared she would be fired if she ended her relationship with Pipes, the company's top executive.

Pipes, however, said Jalloh initiated the relationship after learning he had inherited a "significant" sum of money from his mother.

“In or about the summer of 2016, and completely unlike her three years of prior conduct, Jalloh … began to display a pattern of flirtatious conduct towards Pipes such as (asking) ‘did you buy me lunch’ or ‘when you go out can you buy me breakfast,’” Pipes said in court documents.

Eventually, Pipes “succumbed to her overtures," according to court documents.

In the ensuing months, Jalloh manipulated him into paying for more than $70,000 of fraudulent expenses, including numerous medical procedures, a car and a trip overseas, according to Pipes.

The case worker seized upon Pipes' "vulnerability" to fraudulently take his money, he said in court documents

Jalloh left the company Jan. 29, after a physician said she was unable to work; she alleges the stressful working environment made her sick.

In her lawsuit, Jalloh asks that she be reinstated to her job, receive back pay, compensatory and punitive damages and legal fees. She also wants Pipes to receive anti-harassment training.

Pipes is seeking damages and attorney fees in his counterclaim, court records show.

Attorneys for Jalloh and Pipes this week selected a court-ordered mediator and are set to participate in a mandatory mediation session, according to court records.

In the meantime, the Superior Court case continues; a trial date has not yet been set.