A Springfield landlord and property management company have agreed to pay $25,000 to resolve allegations that they failed to adequately investigate and respond to harassment of a tenant due to his sexual orientation.

According to the assurance of discontinuance, filed yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court, the tenant started being harassed by neighbors and their guests shortly after moving into the Worthington Commons Apartments in Springfield.  The harassment included homophobic slurs, vandalism of his door and mailbox and threats of physical violence.

The settlement was entered into with Worthington Commons Limited Partnership, the owner of the Worthington Commons Apartments, and First Resource Management Co. LLC, the management company. The defendants have denied any wrongdoing, and cooperated with the investigation.

The Attorney General’s Office alleges that the tenant reported these incidents to onsite property management staff as well as an executive officer, and Worthington Commons and First Resource failed to take appropriate action in response, such as transferring the tenant to another one of their apartments in a different neighborhood.

Under the terms of the settlement, Worthington Commons and First Resource must pay $20,000 to the tenant, $2,500 to the Massachusetts Fair Housing Center, which represented the tenant, and $2,500 to the Commonwealth. Additionally, they must implement a tenant harassment policy and have all of their employees complete fair housing training in each of the next three years.