Facing multiple lawsuits from former agents and recruits along with scrutiny from the New York City Comptroller’s office, eXp Realty and several current and former executives and board members at the firm are now facing a suit by public pension funds, who allege the company breached its fiduciary duty in covering up reports of rape by “dozens” of top agents, as well as making new claims regarding retaliation and self-dealing at the highest level.
While many of the allegations made in the litigation have already been revealed though separate lawsuits filed by half a dozen women who were allegedly assaulted at company events, the new 85-page complaint, filed late last month in Delaware Chancery Court, names more high-ranking eXp executives as being complicit or participating in sexual harassment and abuse, including Dave Conord, who served as president of the company from 2018 to 2023.
“Defendants orchestrated a cover-up to protect the assailants, prioritizing the profits that inflated executive bonuses over agent safety and compliance with the law—as well as basic human decency,” the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit also shockingly asserts that a lawyer representing eXp admitted that allegations made by women in the separate lawsuits are true.
“(C)ounsel for the Company confirmed in a conversation with Lead Counsel that everything in the complaints is truthful and accurate,” the lawsuit reads, but provides no further details on the context of that conversation.
When asked to clarify or give context to this alleged admission, an eXp spokesperson told RISMedia via email that the company is still disputing the claims made by the women against eXp.
“As set forth in the public filings in those proceedings and the company’s prior statements, the claims in those cases against eXp and its leadership have no basis in fact or law. Any statement to the contrary is false,” the spokesperson said.
Lawyers representing the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.
Apart from this disputed admission, and going beyond the many allegations of sexual assaults and cover-ups, the new lawsuit claims that company executives have engaged in a broader scheme of control and obfuscation, with former board member Gene Fredrick labeled a “whistleblower” and removed after allegedly questioning the veracity of financial information provided by the company.
“Frederick asked Sanford for eXp’s real books, not the ones that Sanford provided to (financial auditor) Deloitte,” the lawsuit reads. “(T)here were concerns not only from Frederick, who was an accountant by training, but also others, that the numbers were not adding up for the revenue share distribution.”
As shareholders in the company, the two pension funds—namely, the Los Angeles City Retirement System and the Building Trades Pension Fund of Western Pennsylvania—claim that eXp’s actions have damaged the company’s brand and cost it millions of dollars through settlements and payments to alleged abusers, violating a fiduciary duty to investors.
The pension funds are requesting a return of compensation allegedly earned by executives due to the misconduct, and a court order for eXp to “implement and monitor policies and systems to ensure appropriate oversight of allegations of sexual misconduct.” It names Sanford and Fredrick, along with board members Randall Mills and Dan Dahir; former CEO Jason Gesing and current Chief Legal Counsel James Bramble as defendants.
In a statement to RISMedia, the eXp spokesperson said that “eXp Realty has zero tolerance for abuse, harassment or misconduct of any kind—including by the independent real estate agents who use our services. The spokesperson also repeated claims that the company handled allegations of sexual misconduct “with seriousness and deep respect, in line with our Company values, policies and procedures.”
The spokesperson declined to comment on new allegations regarding Conord and Fredrick’s inquiries into financial documents, citing the pending litigation.
Influence and influencers
Back in 2021, four female agents sued eXp and two top-level influencers—David Golden and Michael Bjorkman—who allegedly drugged and raped them as a part of a scheme to build their recruiting base through eXp’s revenue sharing program, which allows agents to profit from sales made by other agents in their “downline.”
Another former eXp agent subsequently filed similar civil claims against Bjorkman and Golden, and both lawsuits have alleged that top eXp executives were aware of the allegations but refused to take any action for years. Both men were later separated from the company, though both also received significant compensation packages before being terminated.
The lawsuit by the two pension funds also broadly reiterates those allegations, providing more details and some brand new claims of misconduct. For instance, the new lawsuit alleges that Conord not only was in a hotel room at an eXp event where women were drugged and assaulted, but he also sent sexually explicit photos to subordinates and pressured them into sex. Women who complained about Conord were “silenced,” the lawsuit says.
According to the lawsuit, Conord was separated from the company in 2021, but Sanford and other executives misled eXp’s board into believing that he was retiring to spend time with family. Only months later, Conord was allowed to return to eXp despite protestations from some within the company, with a top eXp executive allegedly saying he had “served his time in the penalty box.”
Conord does not appear to be active in real estate, though his social media accounts include numerous recent posts touting eXp milestones and events. A message sent to his new business, a pickleball consulting company, was not immediately returned.
Retaliation similar to what kept Conord in power was part of the culture at eXp, according to the lawsuit. Much of the new information in the lawsuit appears to be based on information received from a former eXp employee, not named but who worked as a “Global Operations Coordinator.”
This former employee said that back when the allegations first became public, their team was directed by current eXp Chief Growth Officer Michael Valdes to “let upper leadership know immediately if anyone was heard speaking about the allegations.”
This was part of a “widespread culture of retaliation” at eXp, this employee said, which included pushing out Parker Dunahay, a former VP of agent experience, who “tried to right the wrongs” at the company.
“This culture of fear and retaliation has infected every level of the Company and its business,” the lawsuit says. “As the Global Operations Coordinator reported, ‘(N)o one made complaints if they valued their job.’”
The latest lawsuit is significantly redacted in parts, but one section claims that “at least” 12 other people have come forward with allegations regarding sexual misconduct at eXp. Other partially redacted sections of the lawsuit claim that the board omitted discussions of sexual misconduct from meeting minutes, a decision which was “intentional.”
The pension funds’ lawsuit also hones in on how board members and executives were deeply motivated to protect top recruiters, noting that Sanford and other executives and board members directly benefited from revenue brought in by Bjorkman and Golden. Sanford, the lawsuit claims, receives a quarterly cash bonus based on revenue share that “nearly equaled” his base salary in 2020, when the allegations were just coming to light.
“Realizing the upside potential of these ‘unlimited’ bonuses, however, depends on eXp’s top Influencers staying with the Company because Sanford’s revenue share amount (and in turn, his bonus) is calculated based on the Company’s revenue share income, which is generated primarily by Influencers,” the lawsuit claims.
One of the other lawsuits filed by alleged victims of Bjorkman and Golden claimed that only around 60 agents account for over half of revenue share income. The pension funds’ lawsuit claims that eXp executives kept a list of around 300 top recruiters, who were implicitly protected due to their importance in providing revenue share income, with Golden on that list.
Almost all of the allegations of misconduct come back to Sanford, according to the lawsuit, who exerts “de facto” control of the board and “has the practical ability to determine the outcome of any contested director election, to remove or elect directors, and to direct the management and policies of the Company.”
The lawsuit claims that Sanford’s influence also allowed him to secure “lucrative, above-market compensation packages,” including a 2020 base salary raise from $117,00 to $1.5 million.
As investors in the company, the pension funds put their lawsuit in the context of all the backlash and other legal trouble facing eXp, claiming the culture and decisions at the company created “significant risk of liability.” The lawsuit points out that a judge is allowing one lawsuit by alleged victims of Golden and Bjorkman to move forward with a claim that eXp was complicit in a sex trafficking venture, and referenced another lawsuit the company already settled for an undisclosed amount.
