The fate of a controversial lawsuit against eXp Realty and eXp World Holdings could hang in the balance as the real estate giant tries to quell accusations that it was complicit in the alleged sexual assaults of multiple female agents.
A U.S. District Court judge will deliberate over a pair of motions filed by eXp and several executives calling to dismiss a lawsuit that claims the company and several executives are culpable for allegedly ignoring reports by victims about the incidents.
Depending on how Judge Andre Birotte leans in the June 30 hearing, there is a chance that additional allegations and more victims could be added into the mix, according to court documents filed in response to the motions to dismiss.
“This is not a case of eXp and Glenn Sanford being mere sponsors of some ‘networking event’ such that Defendants can distance themselves from the self-described ‘detestable,’ ‘repugnant’ acts of which they condemn,” read a court document filed by attorneys representing plaintiffs in the lawsuit opposing eXp and Sanford’s motion to dismiss.
The response argued that the case is instead against eXp, Sanford and top eXp recruiter Brent Gove for allegedly knowingly benefiting from participation in the “venture they knew, or should have known,” violated federal sex trafficking laws.
Sanford and Gove were named in a lawsuit filed by Fabiola Acevedo, three Jane Does and one John Doe, alleging two of eXp’s current and former agents, David Golden and Michael Bjorkman, sexually assaulted them at the company’s recruiting events dating as far back as 2018.
The complaint provides several accounts alleging that Bjorkman and Golden drugged and assaulted the plaintiffs at events nationwide. It also claims that Sanford and Gove neglected to assist victims after repeated reports of the alleged crimes.
The complaint claims that the brokerage and its executives “all knew of such actions yet turned a blind eye, propelled by the continued financial benefits they received.”
“This is a case about profit over safety,” read an excerpt from the amended complaint.
Sanford and Gove disputed those accusations in separate motions, petitioning Judge Birotte to throw the case out.
“Plaintiffs have not alleged (and cannot in good faith allege) that defendants participated in a venture that trafficked Plaintiffs, knowingly benefited from such participation, or knew or should have known of the alleged trafficking, read an excerpt from a recent motion filed by eXp and Sanford’s counsel in late April.
The company also disputed the allegations in an emailed statement to RISMedia, expressing that eXp has “zero tolerance for anything that would create an unsafe work environment.”
“As such, we have and will remove a contractor accused of assault,” said an eXp spokesperson.
While the firm pointed out that it couldn’t comment on the specifics of any pending litigation, eXp says the allegations against eXp and Sanford are “without merit.”
Sanford echoed similar sentiments in a previous interview with RISMedia, where he claimed that eXp took “immediate action in both cases when we found out that there had been potential wrongdoing.”
“When we learned about the situation that took place in 2019, we actually released the agent that was (named in the suit),” he said.
The lawsuit provides accounts depicting incidents involving Golden and Bjorkman that allegedly occurred at a 2019 event in Beverly Hills, California, and at a 2020 eXp recruiting event in Las Vegas.
Bjorkman was arrested on two counts of sexual assault related to the alleged Las Vegas incident. However, the case was dismissed. Golden was not arrested after an investigation. The matter is in civil court now.
According to Sanford, eXp cut ties with Bjorkman and Golden after Sanford (who wasn’t CEO then) and corporate leaders cut ties with both agents.
“The plaintiff’s counsel made it sound like they left on their own accord,” said Sanford. “No, we released him, and there were allegations in the civil complaint against another agent that we had never heard before because we’d never been presented that information that I’m aware of.”
Gove echoed similar sentiments in a 20-page brief in support of his motion to dismiss, scrutinizing the accusations made against him that draw connections between his involvement with eXp Realty and eXp World Holdings agent recruiting and retention with the Bjorkman and Golden’s alleged transgressions.
“Plaintiffs cannot establish that Gove knowingly participated in and benefitted from a commercial sex trafficking venture,” read an excerpt from the brief, which called for the claims in the lawsuit to be “dismissed with prejudice.”
Amid the possible dismissal of the case, the plaintiffs have also submitted a request for their attorneys, indicating that they are prepared to amend the complaint to include more allegations against eXp, Sanford and Gove.
In a 25-page response to Gove’s motion and arguments, the plaintiffs indicated that the additions could include new allegations regarding events attended and hosted by Gove where eXp agents that aren’t party to the case were also allegedly drugged and assaulted.
“Defendant Gove appears to be living in some obsolete universe with little understanding that there is actual accountability for profiting from sexual assault; there are real legal implications that cannot be set aside,” read the plaintiffs’ response.
Gove’s attorneys rebuked the plaintiff’s list of potential allegations they would add if given leave to amend, stating they “cannot save their claims against Gove.”
“Most of these allegations would show that Gove participated in eXp’s real estate business through training regarding new agent recruitment or by speaking at industry conferences,” Gove’s brief read. “For others, the new allegations would not relate to Gove’s knowledge of or benefit from a sex trafficking venture.”
The plaintiffs maintained that he and Sanford were complicit and aware of Bjorkman and Golden’s misconduct but did nothing because he allegedly profited from their recruiting methods.
The document also stated that Gove and the other defendants “attempted to discredit and gaslight the plaintiffs in this case, despite them being survivors of assault, putting profit over the Plaintiffs.”
Pointing at eXp Realty’s business model—particularly its revenue sharing program—the plaintiffs acknowledge that the business thrives on agent recruiting and has two businesses.
With a personal downline of roughly 20,000 agents, the plaintiffs characterize Gove as a “central figure” at the firm. Having Bjorkman and Golden in his downline at the time in question, the filing suggests that Gove had a hand in teaching both men how to recruit agents and benefited from the additions they brought in.
While Gove claims that he was unaware of Bjorkman’s actions until after his 2021 arrest, the plaintiffs argued the opposite at several points in the response. At one point, the plaintiffs claimed that one of the victims disclosed what had happened to her days before Bjorkman’s arrest.
“Putting aside the March 2021 date of undisputed actual knowledge, Plaintiffs alleged that Defendant Gove knew long before that time,” read the file. “First, Plaintiffs alleged that Gove was at the Las Vegas event and saw that Jane Doe 3 was ‘out of her mind, which was completely out of character.'”
Another part of the complaint points out how eXp cut ties with Bjorkman a year before his arrest, insinuating that Gove may have also known of the alleged misconduct at that point.
With the courtroom battle for eXp heating up in mere days, there is still the legal matter aimed at Golden and Bjorkman. While Golden has already been served and is set to respond in court sometime next month, attorneys representing the plaintiffs tell RISMedia that they’ve run into some hurdles serving Bjorkman.
“Typically, what happens is you try and serve them with just a regular process server,” says Andrea Hirsch, co-founder and partner at Cohen Hirsch LP. “There’s a norm that you’re supposed to just accept service. It’s not supposed to be a game of tag, you’re it, and you have to have someone run you down.”
According to Hirsch, they were recently granted an order by the courts allowing them to serve Bjorkman by publication in a newspaper.
This comes after eight failed attempts to serve Bjorkman a summons, according to Judge Birotte’s order. Highlighting the several attempts to serve Bjorkman, including hiring a private investigator, it was suggested that there was evidence that he was evading service.
“It is, of course, possible that Mr. Bjorkman was not at home during any of the eight attempts at personal service, and it is possible that Mr. Bjorkman did not receive the mailed notice sent by Federal Express,” read an excerpt from the filing. “But Mr. Bjorkman retained counsel, and that counsel immediately asked for the ‘professional courtesy’ of an extension to compose a responsive pleading.
“Clearly, then, Mr. Bjorkman knew about this litigation, but rather than file that pleading, first referenced by counsel more than three months ago, Mr. Bjorkman has instead focused his efforts on evading service at the expense of the time and resources of opposing counsel and this Court,” the filing added.
Based on a June 6 court document, an ad has been published in the California-based Ventura Star since the start of June to serve as a notice to Bjorkman. It is slated to continue running for the next three weeks before the court can proceed with court hearings.
Hirsch indicated that Golden was served his summons shortly after they filed the complaint, and he is expected to respond to the allegations in July.
