Keller Williams Franchisee Dismisses Misconduct Claims
A Keller Williams Realty franchisee dismissed most of her claims of misconduct against chief executive officer John Davis, but he remains under the microscope.
Inga Dow, the CEO of two Keller Williams offices in Texas, filed a notice in U.S. District Court this week to drop her claims against almost all of the defendants in her sexual misconduct lawsuit filed last year, Inman reported. The claims against all defendants but Davis are being dismissed “with prejudice,” meaning Dow can’t file those claims again.
Other defendants included a market center owner, a company regional director and the firm that runs Keller Williams’ Fort Worth regional office
The filing comes after the completion of a neutral arbitration process between the plaintiff and defendants. The court ordered all of the claims except those against Davis to go to arbitration a year ago, setting them up for a binding resolution from a third party.
Dow filed her amended lawsuit in March 2022, alleging years of sexual misconduct, harassment and abuse at the hands of Davis. She claimed Keller Williams failed to address the behavior and retaliated against her for reporting it.
Dow alleged female employees were encouraged to make sales and appease top performers, including performing “sexual favors or acts for male counterparts and/or top clients.” She claimed Davis propositioned her for sex and she felt she had to comply; when she didn’t, Davis retaliated.
In addition to separate claims in the 11-count lawsuit, every defendant was also accused of tortious interference with an existing contractual relationship and tortious interference with a prospective relationship.
Last April, Davis moved to dismiss the case and strike matter from Dow’s original and amended complaints. Those motions weren’t ruled on, however, after the other claims moved to arbitration. This week, attorneys for Davis motioned for his case to be reopened.
The former executive also filed a lawsuit of his own in the aftermath of Dow’s lawsuit, alleging he resigned from Keller Williams because of a disagreement with Gary Keller. He claimed Keller and president Josh Team smeared Davis by withholding Dow’s allegations in a negotiating play when Davis was trying to offload his market center regions.
— Holden Walter-Warner
