The attorney representing Rachel Kremer, who sued Zillow (Z) claiming that she was the victim of “sexual torture” during her time with the company, told USA Today that current and former Zillow employees have come forward to corroborate Kremer’s claims.
Mark Geragos, who is representing Kremer, said that he has “no doubt” that Kremer’s lawsuit will expand to include other women who claim they were victims of sexual harassment while working at Zillow.
Geragos, who has represented numerous celebrities and other high profile clients throughout his career, including Michael Jackson, Chris Brown, Roger Clinton, Nicole Ritchie, Winona Ryder and Scott Peterson, said that current and former employees from Zillow’s Irvine, California, office and other Zillow offices have contacted his firm since Kremer’s lawsuit was filed to substantiate her claims.
"Given the number of people who have made inquiries and have already signed up at our office, it is clearly a major problem at this company," Geragos told USA Today. "They need a global resolution."
Kremer, who began working at Zillow as an inside sales consultant on June 25, 2012, claims that during her more than two years with the company, “her male supervisors ranked her according to her breast size, sent pictures of their penis [sic] to her, and demanded sexual gratification and obedience by Ms. Kremer to continue her employment.”
According to Kremer’s lawsuit, filed Monday in United States District Court for the Central District of California, Kremer said that her supervisors lewdly propositioned her on many occasions, including in a series of vulgar text messages that were captured and are presented as evidence in her lawsuit.
Among those text messages was one allegedly from Kremer’s supervisor, who sent her an unsolicited picture of his genitalia in June of this year.
Kremer’s lawsuit states that Zillow’s Southern California office is an “adult frat house where sexual harassment and misconduct are normalized, condoned, and promoted by male managers,” and these types of communications from male supervisors are commonplace.
“Zillow management routinely and unapologetically subjected Ms. Kremer to despicable and inappropriate sexual conduct throughout Ms. Kremer’s employment,” Kremer’s lawsuit states.
“Zillow management also directly targeted and propositioned Ms. Kremer on numerous occasions. These managers later retaliated against Ms. Kremer because she would not engage in sexual acts.”
Zillow vigorously denies the claims that alleged inappropriate behavior of any kind is practiced, much less allowed, at any of its locations.
In a statement to HousingWire, Zillow said it takes any allegations about its work environment very seriously. “When this allegation was first made, we immediately investigated these claims and as a result took quick action and terminated a sales employee in our Irvine office,” Zillow said.
“The allegations in the complaint do not reflect Zillow’s culture or workplace and are completely inconsistent with our values. We don’t tolerate harassment of any kind.”
