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The woman who accused the National Association of Realtors of retaliation for her complaints about sexual harassment and discrimination in the office has revised her complaint and offered more details about who she said was involved.
In an amended complaint filed on Tuesday, Roshani Sheth said that she had been sexually harassed by Matthew Embrescia, president of Second Generation Ltd., which has multiple partnerships with NAR. After attempting to address the issue with Embrescia internally with NAR, the complaint states, Sheth’s employment was terminated.
Sheth, who worked for NAR from May 2014 through October 2019, interacted with Embrescia frequently in her role. During that time, according to the complaint, he made sexual advances.
“Embrescia, even prior to making his first sexual advances towards her, treated plaintiff less favorably than he did other of defendant’s employees,” the amended complaint states. “Embrescia refused to make eye contact with plaintiff, made inappropriate comments about her marital status, made lewd comments about her body, and stared at her breasts, all behaviors that defendant’s own policies and procedures prohibit as unlawful sexual harassment.”
Roshani Sheth
In her complaint, Sheth said she refused the alleged sexual advances in May 2015, after which point the working relationship with Embrescia deteriorated.
Embrescia is not named as a defendant in Sheth’s lawsuit.
Sheth first filed her case against NAR in June, but at the time did not include any mentions of Embrescia. The original complaint also brought four counts against NAR including retaliation, breach of contract and other alleged crimes. The amended complaint adds a fifth count for discrimination.
Embrescia didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. He declined to comment when reached via phone by The New York Times, which first reported news of the amended complaint.
According to the amended complaint, Sheth continued working for NAR and meeting her role’s expectations even as she faced harassment. The complaint also alleges that no one in a position of authority intervened in the harassment.
Sheth said in the amended complaint she received a “glowing” performance review from Ken Burlington, who was NAR’s chief operating officer and her superior, in February 2019 for her “significant contributions” to the launch of .realestate, a top-level domain managed by NAR and Second Generation. The review also praised her “technical skills, devotion to her work and the organization, and creative thinking.”
The complaint states that Burlington promised to promote her. However, he later withdrew the promotion, citing her inability to work effectively with Embrescia, according to the amended complaint.
Sheth said in her complaint that she met with human resources to discuss the issue in April 2019, after which she said her relationship with Burlington deteriorated.
The issue was eventually escalated to Linda Russell and Donna Gland, NAR’s Director and Senior Vice President of Talent Development and Resources, respectively, Sheth wrote. The three met in June 2019.
“During the meeting, Gland referred to Plaintiff multiple times as an immigrant, despite the Plaintiff informing her that she had been born in the Chicagoland area,” Sheth wrote.
According to the amended complaint: “Gland and Russell acknowledged that the actions of Burlington and Embrescia created a hostile work environment, but one that was not unlawful because she had not complained to them that the discrimination she experienced stemmed from her race, ethnicity, or gender. Gland dismissed plaintiff’s concerns when she reiterated the race and gender elements of the discrimination she experienced. They suggested that she speak with Burlington, one of the key perpetrators of the hostile work environment, about her concerns; alternatively, they said she could resign.”
Burlington retired from NAR in 2020, and NAR announced Gland’s retirement in November.
In a statement, an NAR spokesperson said he couldn’t comment on the matter.
“The National Association of Realtors is committed to fostering a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace,” the spokesperson said in the statement. “We don’t comment on matters of employment.”
NAR didn’t answer Inman’s question about ongoing relationships it may have with Embrescia.
Sheth’s complaint states that HR later closed its investigation into her formal harassment and discrimination claims. The same month, Sheth was put on a performance improvement plan.
Sheth took a leave of absence from NAR in September 2019. When she returned to work the next month, according to the complaint, she was locked out of NAR’s headquarters on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue.
“Plaintiff returned to the office as instructed, but was refused entry, informed by the security guard that her employment had been terminated,” the amended complaint says. “Later that day, Gland left a voicemail expressly terminating plaintiff’s employment.”
Sheth and NAR reached a settlement agreement that December that included a promise by NAR to act as a neutral employment reference. Sheth suggested that NAR wasn’t abiding by that agreement.
Sheth originally asked for $1 million in damages when she first filed her suit. However, the amended complaint doesn’t specify an amount of money she wants in damages.
“We have full faith and confidence in our client’s claims and look forward to seeing them litigated in a court of law,” Sheth’s attorneys said in a statement.
Read Sheth’s amended complaint here (if the document doesn’t automatically appear, refresh the page):
Editor’s Note: This story was updated to include a statement from Sheth’s attorneys.