Two Boston-based executives at Newmark sued their firm and its U.S. capital markets team co-leader Robert Griffin for breach of contract.
Edward Maher, executive vice chairman of Newmark’s capital markets group, and Matthew Pullen, vice chairman of the Boston capital markets team, claim that Griffin created “an intolerable environment,” cutting them off from clients and future deals, the Boston Globe reported.
“Cynically and without justification, the Newmark defendants marginalized Mr. Pullen, removing him from the group through which he earns commissions,” the lawsuit states. “And they have wholly ignored their contractual arrangements with Mr. Maher, through which he had been granted joint decision-making power over matters such as Boston capital markets team compensation and personnel.”
Plaintiffs argue that contract violations began in April 2025. According to the lawsuit, Newmark didn’t pay Maher and Pullen required commissions, while also hiring new employees without Maher’s knowledge and “contrary to his wishes”.
Griffin informed Maher in March that he had removed his longtime partner Pullen from the Boston capital markets team, the complaint says. When Maher objected, noting that Griffin did not have the authority to make such a decision unilaterally “under the shared control agreement,” Griffin said that agreement was “not worth the paper it is written on.” Most recently, Griffin allegedly has blocked plaintiffs from accessing his calendar and directed other company members to do the same.
Newmark has been trying to get Maher and Pullen to voluntarily resign, because the company doesn’t have a reason to fire executives, the lawsuit alleges.
Maher and Pullen joined Newmark from Cushman and Wakefield in 2015. Both were promoted to their current roles in 2022. Commenting on the promotion at the time, Griffin called the executives “intrinsic members of Newmark’s Boston capital markets group.”
Maher and Pullen brokered Newmark’s priciest sales in Massachusetts, including the $132 million sale of 140 Kendrick Street in Needham and $125 million sale of office building in Boston’s Back Bay district.
The suit was filed in Massachusetts’ Suffolk County Superior Court. It requests a jury trial and counts include breach of contract, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The plaintiffs seek an unspecified amount for loss of compensation and reputational damage, though the Boston Globe reported that damages could reach “potentially in the millions of dollars.” Law360 first reported the news.
— Simon Galkevich
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