Weeks after asserting a nationwide growth, Serhant and his companions are going through a $10 million lawsuit and allegations of concocting a scheme to “loot” a Pennsylvania brokerage in an effort to broaden.
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Weeks after asserting a nationwide brokerage growth, Ryan Serhant and his enterprise companions are going through a lawsuit and allegations of concocting a scheme to “loot” a Philadelphia-based brokerage of their efforts to broaden into Pennsylvania, in response to The Actual Deal.
Ryan Serhant | Credit score: SERHANT. Studios
The criticism filed in Philadelphia Commerce Court docket by Keller Williams Black Label and guardian firm the Apartment Store LLC accuses Serhant and his new Philadelphia group lead, Andrea Desy Edrei, of “plundering its shoppers, mental property, confidential data and personnel, whereas crippling its capacity to function.”
SERHANT. representatives declined to touch upon the matter to Inman.
The businesses are searching for greater than $10 million in damages, plus punitive damages from Desy Edrei’s departure from Black Label to be able to lead SERHANT.’s growth within the state. As well as, plaintiffs are searching for a preliminary injunction barring Serhant and Desy Edrei from utilizing proprietary data the brokerages declare was taken along with her departure, and a return of Black Label social media accounts that the companies say have been “sabotaged.”
The criticism additionally names Michael Skokowski, Jr. and Kailey Bondiskey, Black Label’s former director of promoting and advertising and marketing coordinator, respectively, within the lawsuit, noting that Desy Edrei recruited the advertising and marketing workers to “be a part of the scheme.”
A number of defendants used Black Label’s proprietary advertising and marketing supplies to create supplies for Serhant months earlier than formally becoming a member of SERHANT., in response to the criticism, and “intentionally sabotaged Black Label’s social media accounts whereas claiming these accounts had been ‘hacked.’”
Andrea Desy Edrei | Credit score: LinkedIn
When it was introduced that Serhant can be partnering with the Societe Choose luxurious group led by Edrei to launch in Pennsylvania, a number of brokers resigned, the criticism states, as others put forth funding to assist the brand new group at SERHANT.
Plaintiffs additionally allege that when the group was off the bottom at SERHANT., brokers took down numerous Black Label listings after which re-listed them with SERHANT. As well as, plaintiffs declare the defendants restored Black Label social media accounts as Societe Choose accounts, then locked Black Label out of the accounts.
Black Label additionally claims that defendants stole shopper contact and different data from databases, then wiped databases of that data.
Plaintiffs additionally spotlight within the criticism a advertising and marketing presentation ready in November 2022 for a brand new group at SERHANT. known as “Societe + Serhant.” Compiled when Desy Edrei, Bondiskey and Skokowski have been nonetheless affiliated with Black Label, the criticism says the presentation names Black Label shoppers as “Choose VIP Purchasers” for the brand new group, and makes use of data from Black Label’s advertising and marketing supplies.
The presentation particulars a timeline during which Desy Edrei, Bondiskey and Skokowski have been to finalize dealer and agent agreements with Serhant between November to December, in addition to open financial institution accounts and file LLCs and enterprise licenses. The presentation included a start-up contribution of $600,000 to SERHANT., in addition to the launch of a brand new workplace in January, and launch celebration with “Companion Ryan Serhant.”
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E-mail Lillian Dickerson
