The CEO of Douglas Elliman left the giant real estate brokerage after an investigation commissioned by the company’s board unearthed a sexually charged work culture, according to a report.
Howard Lorber, president and CEO of parent company Vector Group, resigned on Monday as Douglas Elliman’s executive chairman, ending a tenure that spanned more than two decades at the helm of the $170 million realty firm that has built significant footprints in New York, Florida and Southern California.
Douglas Elliman issued a press release indicating that Lorber, 76, decided to retire. But the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that the board pushed Lorber to quit.
Douglas Elliman also announced that Scott Durkin, president and CEO of the company’s brokerage business, was relieved of his duties on Friday.
Douglas Elliman’s workplace culture came under scrutiny earlier this year after it was alleged that two of its former star brokers, the brothers Tal and Oren Alexander, sexually assaulted more than 30 women dating back to their start at the firm in 2008.
No reason for Durkin’s termination was stated in the company’s SEC filings.A Douglas Elliman representative was not immediately available for comment.
“Mr. Durkin had no role whatsoever in fomenting the allegedly ‘sexually charged work culture’ at Douglas Elliman to which the NY Post story refers, nor was Mr. Durkin ever negligent or dilatory in the slightest in reporting any complaints vis-à-vis the Alexander Brothers or anyone else,” his attorney John Singer, a partner at Singer Deutsch, said in a statement.
“No reason for Mr. Durkin’s abrupt separation was stated in the Company’s SEC Filings; however, suffice it to say that all times Mr. Durkin fulfilled his role as the Company’s President and CEO with the utmost integrity, ethics, diligence, and skill,” Singer added.
Shares of Douglas Elliman were up by more than 3.5% after the start of trading on Wall Street on Monday.
In the wake of the allegations against the Alexander brothers, Elliman’s board formed a committee to probe the company’s workplace. An initial review conducted by Manhattan-based attorney Marc Kasowitz was deemed insufficient due to his close relationship with Lorber, according to the Journal.
“As longtime litigation counsel to Douglas Elliman, our firm was preparing to defend the company against potential claims,” Kasowitz said in a statement to the Journal.
“Any suggestion that in doing so we would be less aggressive or effective in finding out the true facts because of our longtime business and personal relationship with Mr. Lorber makes no sense and is the exact opposite of the truth.”
The second probe is reported to have unearthed allegations that went beyond those against the Alexander brothers, the Journal reported.
Another factor that the board took into account when deciding it was time for Lorber to go was Elliman’s poor financial results, according to the report.
In late 2021, Elliman’s market capitalization was $900 million. As of Monday, it was just $170 million — an 81% drop.
The Alexander brothers, who left Douglas Elliman in 2022 to start their own company, Official Partners, have denied the claims. At least three lawsuits have been filed against them and the FBI has launched an investigation into the matter.
Alon was never employed by Elliman. He most recently headed security for his brothers’ firm.
In June, two women — Kate Whiteman and Rebecca Mandel — filed civil lawsuits against Oren and Alon Alexander, accusing them of taking turns raping them in two separate incidents in 2010 and 2012. The news of the lawsuits was first reported by the Real Deal.
Just days after the Real Deal report, another woman, Angelica Parker, filed a lawsuit accusing Alon and Tal Alexander of raping her in their Soho apartment in 2012 while Oren Alexander stood by and watched.
In July, a fourth woman, actor and comedian Renée Willett, filed a lawsuit in which she alleged that Oren Alexander drugged and raped her in his Soho apartment in 2015.
Two top Elliman agents, reality television broker Tracy Tutor and Manhattan-based realtor Jessica Cohen, said they believed the Alexander brothers spiked their drinks while they worked at the agency.
Tutor told the Journal that the alleged incident happened at a restaurant in 2014. Oren Alexander is alleged to have slipped something into her drink. He then took her into the bathroom, where another Elliman agent wandered in and pulled him away from her, according to the Journal.
“Their employer has also said, unequivocally, that no complaints were ever filed to human resources about the brothers,” Deanna Paul, an attorney for Tal Alexander, told the Journal.
Jim Ferraro, an attorney who represented the Alexander brothers, told the Real Deal in June that his clients were victims of a “total shakedown.” Ferraro is no longer representing the brothers.
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