Elliman paired Sikh agent with white former cheerleader to sell house

Any agent selling a home in Highland Park knows the neighborhood’s racial dynamics, but as Douglas Elliman sought to break into Texas, it may have gone too far in following them. 

In 2021, as the brokerage’s Texas leader Jacob Sudhoff worked to build muscle in some of the state’s most expensive zip codes, Highland Park was a crown jewel. Sudhoff thought that one of his agents, a Sikh man named Andy Anand, would have trouble getting a deal in the neighborhood because of his turban, so he paired the broker up with a white former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader as his front woman.   

Sudhoff said that Anand didn’t care about “being the face of anything,” as long as he made money, and that he had previously encouraged Anand to wear the turban proudly, paired with designer suits. Anand might find success with Dallas’ growing population of wealthy South Asian buyers. The way Sudhoff saw it, sources close to him say, he was just trying to help Anand make a deal in a discriminatory environment. 

The anecdote was revealed in a single paragraph of a profile of legendary Highland Park agent Allie Beth Allman published last month by Texas Monthly. 

Anand referred questions about the incident to Stephen Kotler, who oversees brokerage operations in the western region. Sudhoff did not respond to requests to comment.

As told, the story would mean that Elliman Texas, with Sudhoff then serving as CEO, explicitly factored Anand’s religion, race or physical appearance, as well as those of the cheerleader and buyers, into its sale strategy. 

A spokesperson for Elliman says the company bars discrimination. “With a culture built on diversity, equity and inclusion, Douglas Elliman has a zero-tolerance policy that prohibits any form of discriminatory treatment of any individual or group and is committed to maintaining rigorous anti-discrimination policies and mandatory training programs.”

The spokesperson declined to comment on several specific questions, including whether Elliman considers the incident a violation of National Association of Realtors ethics or federal law, whether Sudhoff will face any consequences or how the firm handled the situation internally. The article has been available online since at least July 12, according to records from Internet Archive.

Sudhoff joined Elliman in 2019 as the brokerage formed a joint venture with his Houston-based firm, Sudhoff Companies. The young agent became CEO of Douglas Elliman Texas. Prior to the Texas Monthly comment, Sudhoff’s title was switched from CEO to “senior leadership advisor.” He still owns much of the brokerage’s Texas operation. 

Experts are unclear as to where the situation falls on the inappropriate-to-illegal spectrum. Part of the issue is that many details are unknown, as the anecdote was just a single paragraph of a much longer feature story.  

Since 1974, the National Association of Realtors has addressed discrimination in its code of ethics, which are the rules that every agent agrees to follow by joining the association. Article 10 of the code bans agents from being part of “any plan or agreement to discriminate against a person or persons on the basis of race, creed, sex, or country of national origin.”

A more recent edition of the code explicitly includes religion as a protected category and extends the anti-discrimination rules to employment practices.

Other brokerages have recently faced allegations of discrimination. In June, a federal judge ruled that Brown Harris Stevens had improperly fired a Black agent, Shauncy Claud, who alleged unfair treatment because of her race. Another Black agent alleged racial discrimination during his time at the luxury brokerage Bespoke, claims the firm denies.

“It doesn’t sound like there’s anything illegal, but it’s probably unseemly,” said Charles Porter, a Texas agent and expert on brokerage practices. 

“It shouldn’t have made any difference,” Porter said of Anand’s appearance. “Same token is, if [the former cheerleader is] licensed and it’s a team, they can make a choice of whose photograph they put on the signs.”

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