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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF IOWA No. 145 / 04-0273 Filed March 30, 2007 STATE OF IOWA, ex rel. JEANNIE E. DOBBS, Appellee/Cross-Appellant, vs. JOHN BURCHE, Appellant/Cross-Appellee. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------STATE OF IOWA, ex rel. DAWN M. HALLIGAN, Appellee/Cross-Appellant, vs. JOHN A. BURCHE and MAURA BURCHE, Appellants/Cross-Appellees. ________________________________________________________________________ Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, John A. Nahra, Judge.

The defendants in an action alleging sexual discrimination in housing challenge as overbroad an injunction restricting their ability to engage in rental of residential real estate. AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS. John Burche and Maura Burche, Davenport, pro se. Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Teresa M. Baustian, Assistant Attorney General, for appellees.

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3 HECHT, Justice. The State, suing on behalf of former tenants, brought this action against the tenants' former landlord, I.J.P., Inc., and its owners, John Burche and Maura Burche, alleging sexual discrimination in housing. The district court entered judgment against the defendants for compensatory and punitive damages, penalties, and injunctive relief. During the

pendency of this appeal, the parties reached a settlement agreement calling for satisfaction of the money judgment. Upon review of the issues not rendered moot by the settlement, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand this case for the entry of a judgment granting injunctive relief consistent with this opinion. I. Background Facts.

A reasonable person could find the following facts from the record in this case. Jeannie Dobbs was a residential tenant of I.J.P., Inc., a Mr.

corporation owned by John Burche and his wife, Maura Burche.

Burche appeared at Dobbs's apartment on August 1, 1999, purportedly to collect rent. Mr. Burche put his hands on Dobbs's face and told her she was pretty. During another visit to her apartment, Mr. Burche again told Dobbs she was pretty and asked her to go out with him, an offer she declined. When Dobbs reminded Mr. Burche he was a married man, he said, "What does that matter?" On that occasion, Mr. Burche grabbed her and kissed her on the cheek. During yet another encounter, Mr. Burche grabbed her face and kissed her on the mouth. Mr. Burche frequently appeared at Dobbs's apartment without her permission. On one such occasion, she was alone in her apartment taking a shower. Hearing what she believed was the sound of a door closing, Dobbs opened the bathroom door. She saw Mr. Burche climbing the stairs,

4 so she shut and locked the bathroom door. Mr. Burche claimed he had arrived to fix the toilet, but Dobbs did not recall reporting a faulty toilet. These incidents made Dobbs's continued tenancy burdensome and significantly less desirable than it would have been in the absence of the harassment. Dobbs testified that in September of 1999 her boyfriend Consequently, Mr. Burche took

assisted Mr. Burche with some work.

Dobbs and her boyfriend out to lunch. After lunch, Burch followed Dobbs inside her apartment and told her they would have dinner alone on October 16, 1999. Dobbs, fearful of Mr. Burche's conduct, stayed away from her residence on October 16. She requested that her boyfriend spend more time at her apartment to keep Mr. Burche away. Dobbs testified that because Mr. Burche's conduct made her uncomfortable, she used her income tax refund to secure other housing. Mr. Burche committed similar acts against Dawn Halligan, another tenant. Mr. Burche subjected her to unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature and requests for sexual favors. Mr. Burche agreed to keep her electrical and water service in his name, due to her lack of credit. When Mr. Burche came to Halligan's apartment to discuss her desire to obtain lower rental payments in exchange for cleaning his apartments, Mr. Burche told her he would give her "gifts," which she interpreted to mean lower rental payments, in exchange for sex. Halligan declined this proposal. Upon leaving

Halligan's residence, Mr. Burche held her in his arms and kissed her against her will on each cheek "for good luck." After Halligan had cleaned apartments for Mr. Burche, she received a notice alleging she had not fully paid her rent. She borrowed money from her mother and requested an extension of the time period in which to pay the rent. Mr. Burche again suggested to Halligan that if she had sex with

5 him, he would give her "gifts," which Halligan again interpreted to mean a reduction of her rent. Halligan declined. Because of Mr. Burche's unwelcome conduct, Halligan's tenancy became significantly less desirable. She began spending nights with her mother and friends, and a friend stayed with her for awhile. She eventually decided she had no choice but to move, notwithstanding her desire to prove to the Department of Human Services that she was stable and ready to reacquire custody of her children. Before she moved, Mr. Burche

terminated Halligan's electrical and water service. Seven other former tenants of I.J.P., Inc., though not specifically joined as plaintiffs, testified that Mr. Burche had sexually harassed them. They generally endured acts of sexual harassment similar to those suffered by Dobbs and Halligan at the hands of Mr. Burche, including unwanted touching and invitations for sex in lieu of rental payments. One former tenant testified the day she moved into her apartment, Mr. Burche tried to convince her to have sex with him for "good luck." When she refused, Mr. Burche overpowered and raped her. Mr. Burche evicted some of these tenants, while others moved to avoid further contact with him. Although Mrs. Burche was not directly involved in her husband's unwanted sexual advances against tenants, she did lash out against those who reported such incidents to her. Mrs. Burche accused one tenant of sleeping with Mr. Burche and called her a whore. Similarly, when one tenant requested that Mrs. Burche ask her husband to stop calling, Mrs. Burche called the tenant a whore. II. Background Proceedings.

The State's Petition alleged that Mr. and Mrs. Burche's behavior constituted sex discrimination in violation of the Iowa Civil Rights Act of

6 1965 (2001) (ICRA). The State sought damages not only for Dobbs and Halligan, the named plaintiffs, but also for witnesses who neither intervened nor were parties but who were allegedly "identifiable victim[s] of Defendants' discriminatory housing practices." See Iowa Code

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