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One of two male eXp agents accused of luring female agents to industry and company events and then drugging and sexually assaulting them, is hoping to stop those female agents from obtaining records they may consider crucial evidence: his sex tapes.
On July 13, David Golden, the leader of an eXp agent team in Las Vegas, filed a motion to quash a subpoena issued to the Las Vegas Police Department on July 2 seeking the contents, including photos and videos, of Golden’s phone, which Las Vegas police took from him in January 2021 via a search warrant.
David Golden | LinkedIn
In a declaration included in the legal filing, Golden asserts that the phone contains private medical information for his 14-year-old daughter and himself, his personal and business financial records unrelated to the case, and “videos of my private, personal life unrelated to this lawsuit which I would like to review before it is turned over.”
“The cell phone has videos of my girlfriend and me engaging in consensual sex which we do not want disclosed and we want to keep private,” he added.
The case is progressing under a backdrop of rising protests against sexual harassment in the real estate industry. The suit was originally filed in February and amended in March, in part, to add eXp founder and CEO Glenn Sanford as a defendant.
The suit, brought by Fabiola Acevedo and three other female agents as well as the spouse of one of the agents, alleges that Sanford, Golden, now-former eXp agent Michael Bjorkman, eXp agent Brent Gove, eXp Realty, and eXp World Holdings violated a federal sex trafficking law by turning a blind eye or participating in assaults against the female agents by Golden and Bjorkman.
Michael Bjorkman
The amended complaint alleges that Golden and Bjorkman made videos of their sexual assaults and that some of the photos and videos from Golden’s phone contain evidence that supports the complaint’s allegations.
“Defendant Bjorkman and Defendant Golden made it known to many of the women they drugged and assaulted that they had valuable and explicit videos and pictures of the women,” the complaint reads.
“While at eXp Realty recruiting events, Defendant Golden and Defendant Bjorkman used illegal drugs; surreptitiously drugged and rendered incapacitated other agents and sexually assaulted them and videotaped/photographed their actions.
“[T]his was known by Defendant eXp Realty, Defendant Sanford and Defendant Gove throughout the duration of their affiliation with Defendant eXp Realty.”
Golden was suspended from eXp when the original complaint was filed in February and is not an active team leader, eXp spokesperson Jennifer Zimmerman told Inman via email.
“As soon as the allegations were made in the complaint earlier this year we removed David Golden as an agent pending the outcome of the investigation and lawsuit,” she said.
When asked why Golden was suspended when the complaint was filed and not when eXp knew about the alleged conduct, which the complaint says was before September 2020, Zimmerman said, “He was suspended when we learned of the specific allegation against him” and declined to comment further.
Golden’s Nevada real estate license is currently registered as “inactive.” According to Zimmerman, Golden was an individual agent with eXp and was never registered with eXp as part of a team, despite him for years marketing his business as such on Facebook business pages for himself and for “The Golden Team.”
Zimmerman declined to comment when asked whether eXp agents worked under Golden and whether eXp ever tried to stop him from marketing his business as an eXp team. She also declined to comment when asked why Golden, as an independent contractor, was suspended and not fired.
Inman has reached out to Golden and plaintiffs’ attorney Jennifer A. Lenze, of Lenze Lawyers, and will update this story if responses are received.
Glenn Sanford| AJ Canaria & Mercedes Santiago of MoxiWorks
Golden and Bjorkman’s agent recruiting allegedly brought in substantial income through eXp’s revenue share program for Sanford and Gove, which allegedly lead to eXp, Sanford and Gove allowing Golden and Bjorkman’s “behavior to go unchecked for years simply so they could continue to reap the financial benefits.” Sanford, Gove and Golden allegedly previously knew each other when they were at Keller Williams.
“[W]hen defendant eXp Realty and defendant Sanford knew about the multiple assaults, he was asked what would he do when this came out publicly. Defendant Sanford’s response was to say, so what, it is only going to be in the news cycle for 3-5 days, and nothing will happen,” the amended complaint alleges.
“[C]ertain members of the Leadership Team and/or Board of Directors suggested ways in which Defendant eXp could help the sexual assault survivors which included switching their sponsors so they would not be forced to pay up to their assailants, allowing them to be heard by Leadership, and creating a safe space for reporting. Defendant Sanford explicitly rejected these requests,” the complaint adds.
Sanford, eXp Realty, eXp World Holdings, Gove, Bjorkman and Golden have filed motions to dismiss the case. Those motions are pending in the U.S District Court California Central in Los Angeles. The court will hold a hearing on Golden’s motion to quash the subpoena regarding his cell phone records on Aug. 25.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with comments from eXp.
