eXp Agents Allegedly Drugged and Sexually Assaulted Women at Recruiting Events; eXp Ignored Pleas
of the Assault Survivors
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Four women and one man, all represented by lawyers from Cohen Hirsch, LP and Lenze Lawyers, PLC have filed a federal sex trafficking action in the Central District of California against eXp Realty, eXp World Holdings, and several of its current and former agents (collectively the Defendants).
The complaint contends that eXp Realty agents Michael Bjorkman and David Golden had a history of drugging and sexually assaulting women at eXp Realty recruiting events. Bjorkman and Golden enticed female real estate agents to travel to real estate networking events, promising career advancement, while planning to drug and assault them.
The suit asserts that this behavior goes back at least two decades. Defendants eXp Realty, LLC and eXp World Holdings, Inc. (collectively eXp) repeatedly ignored the illegal and immoral actions perpetrated by Defendants Bjorkman and Golden as eXp benefited from the recruitment of these agents.
The suit claims that Defendants Golden and Bjorkman were two of eXp Realty’s top-producing recruiters. Each time they signed on a new agent, eXp benefited financially. The suit asserts Defendants violated federal sex trafficking statute 18 U.S.C. § 1591.
The complaint alleges that from July 2018 to August 2020, Defendant Bjorkman and/or Defendant Golden drugged and/or sexually assaulted at least four women at eXp recruiting events. The lawsuit seeks damages which include lost earnings, significant emotional distress and punitive damages.
“What happened to these women at eXp is disturbing and deplorable, and we hope the bravery of these women will inspire others,” said Andrea S. Hirsch, a partner at Cohen Hirsch. “We will fight with our passion, energy and resources to help these survivors gain justice, retake their power and find closure,” added Brooke F. Cohen, another partner at Cohen Hirsch.
Plaintiffs’ co-counsel Jennifer Lenze of Lenze Lawyers, PLC added, “Throughout these stories is the common narrative that these women were gaslit about what occurred, became distrustful of their memories, and only found solace in the similarities between each incident.”
The case is Acevedo, et al. v. eXp Realty, LLC, et al. 2:23-cv-01304 CD CA.
About Cohen Hirsch, LP
Proudly women-owned, the Cohen Hirsch firm represents survivors of sexual assault and abuse, as well as people injured by corporations that have manufactured defective and dangerous drugs and devices. See www.eXpexposed.com and https://cohenhirsch.com for more information.
About Lenze Lawyers, PLC
Lenze Lawyers, PLC is a woman-owned, woman led law firm dedicated to zealously advocating on behalf of injured individuals who have been unjustly harmed, whether by personal injury, defective pharmaceutical products, medical devices or a company’s wrongdoing. See https://lenzelawyers.com for more information.
Media contact
Susan Peters
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SOURCE Cohen Hirsch
Originally published at https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cohen-hirsch-lp-and-lenze-lawyers-plc-file-complaint-against-exp-realty-and-its-agents-for-federal-sex-trafficking-301753361.html
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