Sexual Harassment Claim Against Appraisal Institute Dropped

The legal fight inside the Appraisal Institute isn’t over yet.

Its former CEO dropped her sexual harassment lawsuit against a former top officer, but her broader claims against the Chicago-based organization remain intact, Crain’s reported.

Cindy Chance, who served as CEO from September 2023 to September 2024, filed a motion last week to voluntarily dismiss her claims against Craig Steinley, a past president and vice president of the institute.

The lawsuit, filed in May, alleged Steinley groped her, made inappropriate comments and spread rumors about a romantic relationship between them. Her attorney did not provide a reason for withdrawing the claims, which were dismissed without prejudice, leaving the door open for refiling in the future.

Chance is continuing her case against the Appraisal Institute, a 16,000-member Chicago-based nonprofit that plays a central role in real estate valuation nationwide.

In the same complaint, she accused the organization of concealing losses on a diversity investment, knowingly distributing incorrect certification test results and spreading false rumors about her after her termination, including an allegation she had embezzled $1 million.

The claims about test scores echo those made in a separate lawsuit filed in March by Alissa Akins, a former director of education at the institute, hired by Chance.

An attorney for Steinley denied all misconduct allegations. The institute, headquartered in the Loop, has declined to comment on the motion to dismiss.

The sexual misconduct claims surfaced in the same week the New York Times published a broader report on alleged inappropriate behavior by Steinley, based on interviews with a dozen women. Shortly afterward, Steinley stepped away from public-facing duties and the institute’s board voted to remove him from office.

Chance has said her focus is less on personal grievances than on what she described as a culture of self-dealing and institutional dysfunction within one of the nation’s most influential real estate groups.

The dispute “isn’t a story about sexual harassment,” she told Crain’s, but “a story about the security of our mortgage system … and whether the valuations they’re relying on are done by the best professionals.”

— Judah Duke