A former National Association of Realtors employee who accused the trade association of discrimination and retaliation has returned to court with reinforcements.
Roshani Sheth, who worked for a NAR subsidiary from 2014 to 2019, filed a lawsuit in June alleging retaliation after she was let go following her complaints about discrimination and sexual assault.
In July, the Realtors group responded with a motion to dismiss the case, claiming that Sheth’s suit was “a threadbare attempt to bring meritless claims against NAR.”
In response, Sheth, who had been representing herself, retained a lawyer who filed an amended complaint reiterating her claims. Sheth alleges she was continually exposed to “lascivious” and “objectively offensive” comments about women in the workplace from her supervisor and ultimately fired after complaining of harassment and discrimination.
She also claims that after her termination, she was subjected to cyberstalking, including text messages calling her a “rat” and telling her to “kill herself.” Sheth says she was unable to secure new employment because of her inability to receive a neutral reference from NAR, in violation of a previously signed settlement agreement.
In her amended complaint, Sheth includes significantly more detail about the harassment she claims to have experienced from Matthew Embrescia, the president of strategic partner Second Generation, which operates several of NAR’s domain names.
Sheth alleges that during the course of their working relationship, Embrescia made “inappropriate” comments about her marital status and body, and in May 2015, made sexual advances which she rejected.
Her complaints about Embrescia’s behavior were dismissed by both her supervisor and human resources, according to the lawsuit.
Sheth claims her supervisor, Ken Burlington, denied her a promised promotion in March 2019 despite giving her a “glowing” performance review a month earlier, and that Burlington justified the lack of promotion by citing her “inability to collaborate effectively” with Embrescia.
A series of meetings with human resources only served to further sour her relationship with Burlington, according to the suit. A month after HR closed an official complaint that Sheth made in June 2019, Sheth was put on a performance improvement plan despite a positive performance review less than a year earlier, her lawsuit states.
The performance plan was a “flagrant” example of retaliation and focused on Sheth’s working relationships with Burlington and Embrescia, who “relentlessly subjected” her to discrimination, the suit states. Burlington retired in 2020 after 20 years with NAR, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The lawsuit comes as NAR attempts to move forward following a rocky couple of years.
Last month, the group announced Nykia Wright as its permanent CEO. Wright had been serving as interim CEO following the departure of Bob Goldberg, who, along with several other NAR executives, resigned in the wake of accusations of a toxic culture and sexual harassment by former president Kenny Parcell.
Parcell was replaced by Tracey Kasper, who lasted just five months after NAR staffers circulated a letter claiming that she had been well aware of the hostile environment fostered at the organization.
A spokesperson for NAR declined to comment on specifics of the case. Others named in the lawsuit did not return requests for comment or could not be reached.
A less-publicized resignation came at the end of last year from Donna Gland, former senior vice president of talent, after 38 years at NAR. In addition to being accused of ignoring a memo detailing workplace issues, Gland is also mentioned in the suit as having repeatedly called Sheth an immigrant during a meeting in which Sheth detailed her complaints about Burlington and Gland. Sheth, who is Indian American, was born near Chicago.
In October 2019, following a one-month medical leave, Sheth was let go by Gland. The organization cited her “failure to meet the expectations” of the improvement plan, according to the suit.
Sheth also claims that Burlington, who she says frequently made “objectively offensive” comments about women in her presence including using terms like “bitch,” continued to disparage her to employees who could have provided Sheth a personal reference.
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In July 2020, Sheth filed charges of discrimination with the Illinois Department of Human Right and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, according to the suit. After the agency took up Sheth’s case, she claims, she was subjected to threatening texts that told her to “shut up,” called her a “rat” and included shorthand for “kill yourself.”
On March 20, 2024, the EEOC informed Sheth of her right to sue.
An attorney for Sheth did not respond to a request for comment.