After three years, a closely watched lawsuit centered on alleged sex trafficking and assaults at eXp events reached a settlement, just a few days after the trial began.
The lawsuit, filed by eXp agent Anya Roberts against two former eXp recruiters—David Golden and Michael Bjorkman—reached a confidential settlement, according to court filings, two days into a civil trial focusing on Roberts’ allegations the two men drugged and sexually assaulted her as part of a recruiting “scheme.”
The settlement “fully and finally resolves all claims” asserted by Roberts against Golden and Bjorkman.
Just a few days prior, Roberts had settled with eXp and dismissed all claims against Glenn Sanford, who was CEO of eXp’s parent company when the alleged assaults took place.
“While we are pleased that Anya Roberts has resolved her claims against eXp Realty, eXp World Holdings, Glenn Sanford, David Golden and Michael Bjorkman, four other women are still waiting for their day in court,” Andrea Hirsch, an attorney for Roberts, told RISMedia via text message. “Their trial is scheduled for early 2028. Our focus now turns to ensuring that their voices are heard and pursuing the justice they deserve.”
Attorneys for Golden and Bjorkman did not respond to questions from RISMedia.
While her claims against Bjorkman and Golden involved sexual assault and drugging, Roberts’ initial claims against eXp were to prove that the company should be held liable, based on their knowledge and oversight of the two former agents.
A long awaited trial
The lawsuit began back in late 2023, when Roberts filed a complaint alleging that Bjorkman and Golden had drugged and sexually assaulted her at an eXp agent recruiting event.
The initial 40-page complaint also accused eXp of encouraging, permitting and turning a blind eye to such behavior. It also alleged that this conduct was rampant within the company and its events.
The timeline of the accusations spans across several states and locations, including Texas, Mexico, Nevada and Florida.
Since the original complaint was filed, the case has been closely watched by the industry, as it also raised legal questions around obligations (legal and otherwise) for real estate companies to protect agents.
But the former agents and eXp are not cleared quite yet, as another largely similar case has been ongoing alongside the Roberts lawsuit.
The Acevedo case—which is also handled by the same attorneys as the Roberts case—involves four women who allege that the same former agents had used eXp recruitment events to “prey upon” them, according to the original complaint.
“Multiple women informed the Las Vegas Police Investigator that they personally saw (Golden) with GHB and other illicit substances on multiple occasions, and they believe those substances supplied by (Golden) were used to drug them so that they could be sexually assaulted at eXp Realty Recruitment Events,” the original complaint alleged.
As for Roberts, she cited the Acevedo lawsuit as her reason for coming forward.
“Several years later, after learning that other women had been drugged and assaulted by (Golden) and (Bjorkman), Ms. Roberts began to piece together what had happened to her—that she was drugged and that she was fraudulently induced into engaging in a sexual relationship with (Golden),” the original complaint by Roberts stated. “She further realized that once it became clear that she would not do everything he wanted, including selecting him as her sponsor, he stonewalled her career.”
Going further, both allegations made by Roberts and plaintiffs in the Acevedo lawsuit accuse the defendants of taking explicit videos and pictures of the women.
Accounts of events in both complaints paint a picture of targeted recruitment practices—on the part of Bjorkman and Golden—for the purposes of luring women into situations where they are vulnerable, and use a “date-rape drug” to sexually assault them while they were unconscious.
Separately, two women have sued eXp for retaliation, including a top agent, Noelle Nielsen, sent a detailed first-hand account of Bjorkman’s and Golden’s alleged misconduct, which also included physical altercations and other drug use at company events. Her lawsuit against eXp and Sanford in Minnesota state court is ongoing.
Another former employee, Ashley Golladay, sued eXp in Washington state court after reporting another executive, Dave Conord, for harassment. Conord retired, but soon returned to the company, and Golladay was fired shortly afterward.
The status of Golladay’s lawsuit could not immediately be determined.
Also overseen by Judge André Birotte Jr., the Acevedo case is scheduled to go to trial in March 2028.
