A second lawsuit has been filed towards real-estate MLM Exp Realty, once more alleging “drugging and sexual assault” of ladies.
Plaintiff Anya Roberts filed swimsuit on December 14th in California.
Defendants named in Roberts’ swimsuit embody:
- Exp Realty
- Exp World Holdings Inc.
Michael L. Bjorkman (proper), a former California Exp Realty agent- David S. Golden, a Nevada resident and Bjorkman’s Exp Realty upline
- Brent Gove, a California prime Exp Realty agent
- Emily Keenan, an Arizona resident and David Golden’s girlfriend
- Glenn Sanford, Exp Realty’s founder and
- Michael Sherrard, a Canadian resident and prime Exp Realty agent
Anya Roberts signed on as an Exp Realty agent following ” a profitable actual property profession as a prime agent in her market with ReMax.”
Starting in 2018, Ms. Roberts was inundated with social media posts about becoming a member of eXp REALTY.
As a part of these recruiting efforts, Ms. Roberts travelled to New Orleans, LA to attend EXPCON which was held on October 22-24, 2018.
As a part of these recruiting efforts, Ms. Roberts’ potential sponsor and upline supplied complimentary meals and attended a number of high-pressure, one on one conferences with a few of eXp REALTY’s prime recruiting Sponsor Brokers (“Influencers”) in an effort to steer her to hitch eXp REALTY.
DEFENDANT GOVE was personally concerned on this high-pressure recruitment effort of Ms. Roberts.
On the illustration she’d be positioned on “one of many prime ranges and strongest downlines” inside Exp Realty, Roberts signed on as an agent in December 2018.
Roberts claims that whereas initially her “earnings got here from promoting houses”, she quickly discovered herself in a pyramid scheme.
Over time, this earnings stream started to shift, as she was pressured by DEFENDANT GOVE and DEFENDANT eXp REALTY to surrender her gross sales profession to fully concentrate on recruiting different brokers to hitch eXp REALTY.
At every eXp REALTY occasion Ms. Roberts attended, moderately than educating attendees on the true property commerce, eXp REALTY centered totally on Agent Attraction and learn how to entice extra brokers to hitch eXp REALTY; DEFENDANT GOVE espoused this as gospel.
DEFENDANT eXp REALTY, DEFENDANT SANFORD and DEFENDANT GOVE pressured at these conferences that the only path to success at eXp REALTY was not promoting actual property, however moderately, attracting extra individuals to hitch DEFENDANT eXp REALTY.
The FTC warns that MLM firms with out vital retail exercise are pyramid schemes.
Recalling one December 2019 Exp Realty occasion held by Jay Kinder, Roberts’ Grievance states;
Throughout the occasion, they had been invited by a prime eXp agent in her upline to hitch their staff blissful hour occasion. This occasion had an open bar with copious quantity of alcohol.
On the conclusion of the occasion, the upline agent invited a couple of people, together with Ms. Roberts, to go to a different location at a personal membership a couple of doorways down.
On the second occasion, somebody in Ms. Roberts’ upline acted grossly inappropriate to an agent in Ms. Roberts’ downline.
Roberts claims that her downline “rebuffed” the inappropriate habits, resulting in her being blacklisted from “key assembly and occasions”.
Ms. Roberts’ downline agent finally left eXp REALTY and took her downline together with her.
Alienation from the internal circle at eXp REALTY translated into misplaced income.
At one other Exp Realty occasion, held in Mexico in 2020;
Ms. Roberts attended one of many signature occasions – a sundown booze cruise throughout Banderas Bay to Las Caletas, a seaside solely accessible by boat.
Included on this occasion was a lavish dinner, all you possibly can drink, and leisure.
Practically all of eXp REALTY’s prime executives and prime agent influencers, together with DEFENDANT GOLDEN, his girlfriend DEFENDANT KEENAN, DEFENDANT BJORKMAN and DEFENDANT GOVE had been in attendance.
Whereas on the boat, DEFENDANT KEENAN, invited Ms. Roberts to sit down behind the boat in order that Ms. Roberts might personally meet DEFENDANT GOLDEN—an invite Ms. Roberts was excited to get as a result of she knew that DEFENDANT GOLDEN was considered one of eXp REALTY’s prime agent Influencers.
Throughout that dialog on the boat with DEFENDANT GOLDEN, DEFENDANT KEENAN, put a capsule into Ms. Roberts’ mouth, telling her it was an Adderall and additional stating that it merely would give her power.
Quickly thereafter, Ms. Roberts blacked out and doesn’t have any private recollection of what occurred the rest of the night.
Ms. Roberts later realized from different attendees on the boat that she was performing wildly out of character and was performing inappropriately for a piece occasion. Ms. Roberts now understands that she was drugged.
Ms. Roberts was advised that she was kissing DEFENDANT KEENAN in entrance of DEFENDANT GOVE and his household.
She additionally realized that she acquired separated from her buddies and that she went lacking for an prolonged time period throughout which her buddies had been trying to find her and had been very involved for her security.
Ms. Roberts has no unbiased recollection of that evening.
Ms. Roberts believes she was sexually assaulted by DEFENDANT GOLDEN, DEFENDANT KEENAN and others that night.
The following factor Ms. Roberts recollects is waking up in her personal resort room the next day, February 9, 2020.
Shortly thereafter, DEFENDANT KEENAN contacted Ms. Roberts to let her know that she had her bank card and that they need to meet in order that she might return the bank card to Ms. Roberts.
That very same morning, DEFENDANT KEENAN advised one other attendee that she “pulled a lady for the first-time final evening”; the lady that was drugged and “pulled” was Ms. Roberts.
Why isn’t clarified however
later that day, Ms. Roberts went to DEFENDANT GOLDEN’s room to fulfill with DEFENDANT KEENAN and DEFENDANT GOLDEN to retrieve her belongings.
DEFENDANT KEENAN and DEFENDANT GOLDEN had been having drinks and supplied her one, which she accepted.
Quickly after having that drink, Mr. Roberts misplaced a good portion of her reminiscence.
Whereas a lot of that day and evening is a blur, Ms. Roberts does recall a couple of particulars. Specifically, she recollects regaining her consciousness to search out DEFENDANT KEENAN ‘s fingers in her vagina and DEFENDANT GOLDEN standing over them rubbing his erect penis over his pants.
Ms. Roberts instantly jumped away—shocked and upset.
DEFENDANT GOLDEN despatched DEFENDANT KEENAN away and tried to calm Ms. Roberts down by speaking to her as in the event that they had been in the course of a enterprise assembly, whereby he started promising he would care for her financially.
Ms. Roberts recollects DEFENDANT GOLDEN telling her that if she left her present eXp sponsor, Chris Bear, and select DEFENDANT GOLDEN as her sponsor, DEFENDANT GOLDEN would catapult her profession whereas promising her monetary success.
Whereas drugged, dazed, and confused about what had simply occurred, DEFENDANT GOLDEN gaslit Ms. Roberts, telling her that he was going to make her a massively profitable prime agent at eXp REALTY, similar to him.
After the occasion Golden is alleged to have hounded Roberts about altering her upline.
As a part of this recruitment marketing campaign, DEFENDANT GOLDEN would at occasions profess his like to Ms. Roberts, and at different occasions, would make guarantees that he would carry her monetary success as long as she did EXACTLY what he advised her to do.
I don’t know the place Emily Keenan was in all of this, however
Because of the guarantees of profession development, financial success, romantic professions of affection and admiration, and “love-bombing”, Ms. Roberts started a “relationship” with DEFENDANT GOLDEN.
This led to Golden and Robert sharing a resort room at an Exp Realty occasion, held in Florida in March 2020.
Ms. Roberts understood the aim of the journey was for DEFENDANT GOLDEN to show her learn how to run her personal eXp REALTY recruiting occasion.
On the primary evening of the occasion, DEFENDANT BJORKMAN confirmed up at DEFENDANT GOLDEN’S room along with his baggage in hand and advised Ms. Roberts that he would even be staying of their room.
At first, Ms. Roberts thought DEFENDANT BJORKMAN was joking. DEFENDANT BJORKMAN advised Ms. Roberts that this was not a joke as he all the time shared a room with DEFENDANT GOLDEN.
The following day, whereas on the resort, DEFENDANT GOLDEN obtained a supply of GHB.
DEFENDANT GOLDEN advised Ms. Roberts that the supply was a exercise efficiency enhancing drug.
DEFENDANT GOLDEN advised her that she might look the drug up on-line and see that it was used for exercises because it was routinely utilized by bodybuilders.
He proceeded to point out Ms. Roberts on Google verification whereas making certain her that he’s a “Pharmacist” and everybody depends on his experience to present the proper dosage as a result of he’s so aware of this substance.
Not understanding the chance concerned in taking the drug, and after being advised {that a} small quantity can be simply advantageous, Ms. Roberts took the dosage advisable by DEFENDANT GOLDEN; Ms. Roberts didn’t perceive that taking this drug would trigger her not solely to lose her reminiscence, but additionally to change into incapacitated such that she would lose the flexibility to consent as to what occurred together with her physique.
Because of taking the drug, Ms. Roberts blacked out and doesn’t recall a lot of the occasions from that evening apart from flashes of reminiscences; nonetheless, Ms. Roberts does recall that the subsequent morning whereas she was showering, DEFENDANT BJORKMAN walked into the lavatory bare, exposing himself to her.
Ms. Roberts was totally shocked and requested what he was doing to which he replied, “oh, now you might be shy?” implying that they’d sexual contact the evening earlier than.
Ms. Roberts believes she was sexually assaulted by DEFENDANT GOLDEN and DEFENDANT BJORKMAN the earlier evening whereas she was incapacitated.
Upon data and perception, DEFENDANT BJORKMAN and DEFENDANT GOLDEN took photos and/or movies of her that evening.
Roberts goes on to assert that after telling Golden she wouldn’t be altering her upline to him, Golden “instantly broke off his relationship with” her.
Golden then purportedly engaged in “a smear marketing campaign to try to discredit her inside eXp REALTY.”
A number of years later, after studying that different girls had been drugged and assaulted by DEFENDANT GOLDEN and DEFENDANT BJORKMAN, Ms. Roberts started to piece collectively what had occurred to her – that she was drugged and that she was fraudulently induced into partaking in a sexual relationship with DEFENDANT GOLDEN.
She additional realized that when it turned clear that she wouldn’t do every little thing he wished, together with deciding on him as her sponsor, he stonewalled her profession.
Sadly, Golden wasn’t the one Exp Agent who acted inappropriately in the direction of Roberts.
At an April 2021 Exp Realty occasion, Roberts met Michael Sherrard (proper).
DEFENDANT SHERRARD approached Ms. Roberts and launched himself because the #1 agent at eXp REALTY. Attempting to impress her he confirmed her an image of his Lamborghini.
Unimpressed, Ms. Roberts rebuffed his advances and tried to proceed her dialog with different attendees trying to community.
Uninvited, DEFENDANT SHERRARD sat subsequent to her at a desk the place she was sitting by her enterprise companion and speaking to different brokers after which repeatedly positioned his hand on her leg and moved it up below her skirt.
His pinky and ring finger grazed her vagina a number of occasions whereas Ms. Roberts repeatedly tried to maneuver DEFENDANT SHERRARD’s hand off her — he ignored her making an attempt to cease his habits. He did this roughly 6-7 occasions.
Lastly, Ms. Roberts jumped up from the desk mid-conversation with different brokers and left the occasion.
Such was the “excessive emotional misery” brought on by her time at Exp Realty, that Roberts
stopped promoting actual property and ultimately moved in a foreign country to distance herself from eXp REALTY.
Numerous police studies are cited in Roberts’ Grievance.
In accordance with a Las Vegas Police Report, round April or Might 2018, an eXp REALTY Agent attended an actual property networking occasion in Denver, Colorado.
One night through the convention, the eXp REALTY Agent went to the bar with a number of different occasion attendees, together with DEFENDANT BJORKMAN.
This eXp REALTY Agent solely had one drink on the bar and doesn’t recall how she acquired the drink.
After having that drink, the eXp REALTY Agent stood up and instantly felt woozy and shaky.
DEFENDANT BJORKMAN instantly observed she was sick and advised her that she had been drugged, that she wanted to eat and that she shouldn’t depart the bar with anybody apart from him.
This eXp REALTY Agent doesn’t recall the remainder of the night. After studying about different girls being drugged and assaulted by DEFENDANT BJORKMAN, this now former eXp REALTY Agent has come to the conclusion that she was additionally drugged by DEFENDANT BJORKMAN.
In accordance with a Las Vegas Police Report, in early February 2019, an eXp REALTY Agent attended an actual property networking occasion in Maui, Hawaii.
Throughout the occasion, this eXp REALTY Agent had two drinks with DEFENDANT BJORKMAN.
Quickly after, this eXp REALTY Agent started slipping out and in of consciousness and needed to be taken to Maui Hospital.
Regardless of solely having two drinks, this eXp REALTY Agent had a Blood Alcohol Content material of .21 (almost 3 times the authorized restrict).
This eXp REALTY Agent now believes that she was drugged with alcohol powder and believes that DEFENDANT BJORKMAN was the person who drugged her.
In accordance with a Las Vegas Police Report, in or round Might-June 2019, an actual property agent and her husband attended an eXp recruiting occasion in Coronado, CA.
DEFENDANT BJORKMAN invited her and her husband to brunch.
They every had one glass of wine after which DEFENDANT BJORKMAN invited them to DEFENDANT GOLDEN and DEFENDANT BJORKMAN’s suite utilized for eXp recruiting events.
Whereas within the suite, DEFENDANT GOLDEN arrived. The true property agent and her husband had been every supplied a blended drink.
Quickly after, the true property agent had restricted reminiscence of the remainder of the day, missed pre-arranged dinner plans, missed many textual content messages, and didn’t get up till the next morning.
This agent believes she was drugged, however on the time didn’t know who was accountable. This agent joined eXp REALTY in October 2019 and named DEFENDANT BJORKMAN as her sponsor.
Later that 12 months, in December 2019, this eXp REALTY agent traveled to Puerto Rico to go to prime eXp REALTY influencer and eXp REALTY Board Member Gene Frederick.
Rosie Rodriquez, an agent in her upline, and DEFEDANT GOLDEN’s eXp authentic sponsor, was imagined to attend the occasion however cancelled on the final second.
Consequently, this eXp REALTY Agent was staying at a rental dwelling alone with DEFENDANT BJORKMAN and DEFENDANT GOLDEN.
This eXp REALTY Agent was so fearful on account of inappropriate feedback and actions of DEFENDANT BJORKMAN and DEFENDANT GOLDEN that she locked her door to her bed room to forestall them from coming into.
As they tried to wiggle the door open, she stayed on the telephone together with her husband for many of the evening.
Because of being so uncomfortable, she left the journey early and had eXp REALTY Board Member Gene Frederick drive her to the airport.
On February 25, 2020, DEFENDANT GOLDEN flew to Minnesota to attend an eXp REALTY recruiting occasion in her hometown. Someday thereafter, this eXp REALTY Agent contacted eXp REALTY to request that she not be in DEFENDANT BJORKMAN and DEFENDANT GOLDEN’S downline.
Roberts claims that, even after being explicitly made conscious of her ordeal, no person from Exp Realty “reached out to” her.
Summing up her allegations, Robert’s Grievance states;
It is a case of drugging and sexual assault, “unhealthy actors”, and an organization, eXp, who at worst knew of, inspired, and permitted abhorrent habits or as a minimum recklessly disregarded and willfully turned a blind eye to the actions of its prime agent influencers for the advantage of its backside line.
The detestable actions which are the topic of this criticism (the drugging and sexual assault) had been rampant inside eXp, throughout eXp occasions, agent sponsored occasions, in addition to occasions the place eXp was in attendance, permeating the corporate’s tradition.
In assist of Exp Realty proprietor Glenn Sanford (proper) and different executives being absolutely conscious of what was occurring, Roberts’ claims;
In April 2022, an eXp Realty Board Member addressed eXp Realty’s failure to take any motion to curb the sexual assault incidents that had been occurring at eXp Realty.
On par with eXp’s remedy of complaints associated to sexual harassment, sexual assault, drug use and the like, DEFENDANT eXp REALTY not solely ignored this request to take motion, but additionally DEFENDANT eXp CEO, GLENN SANFORD, expressed to this similar board member that this was not their downside and can be merely a 3 to 5 day newspaper phenomenon after which would disappear.
In full distinction to DEFENDANT SANFORD’s perception in regards to the incidents’ lack of impression for eXp, Ms. Roberts can be impacted ceaselessly by the occasions described on this criticism.
Roberts’ Grievance particulars
- two counts of human trafficking by pressure, fraud, or coercion;
- one rely of “collaborating in a enterprise in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1595” (civil treatment);
- one rely of sexual battery;
- one rely of civil battery;
- one rely of intentional infliction of emotional misery; and
- one rely of negligent hiring, retention and supervision
The primary Exp Realty “drugging and sexual assault” lawsuit was filed earlier this 12 months in February. It particulars related alleged conduct by Golden and Bjorkman.
BehindMLM is monitoring each circumstances. Keep tuned for updates as each circumstances progress.