eXp Realty
October 19, 2026
LOS ANGELES, California - October 19, 2026
eXp Realty, its parent company AGNT, Inc., and founder Glenn Sanford have reached a confidential settlement with Anya Roberts, the eXp agent whose federal lawsuit accused two former eXp agents of drugging and sexually assaulting her at company recruiting events and claimed the brokerage and Sanford knowingly benefited from that conduct. The agreement removes the corporate defendants from the case less than a month before they were scheduled to face a jury.
Roberts disclosed the agreement in a one-page partial dismissal filed Sunday, October 18, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, one day before the first of two scheduled trials was set to begin. The filing states that Roberts and eXp Realty LLC have reached a confidential settlement in principle that will fully and finally resolve all of her claims against eXp Realty, Sanford, and AGNT, formerly known as eXp World Holdings. It adds that the settlement concerns the eXp defendants only and that Roberts intends to keep litigating against the other defendants. Dismissal papers are expected within 15 days once the settlement agreement is finalized. The terms were not disclosed.
In a statement, an eXp spokesperson said the company and Roberts were pleased to have resolved the lawsuit, that eXp has consistently denied the claims, and that the resolution is not an admission of wrongdoing. The company said Roberts has remained an eXp agent throughout the litigation and expects to stay affiliated with the brokerage, and that eXp is committed to an agent community where every agent is safe, respected, and heard.
Roberts filed suit in December 2023. She alleged that then-eXp agents David Golden and Michael Bjorkman drugged and sexually assaulted her at eXp recruiting events in February and March 2020, and that eXp Realty and Sanford knowingly benefited from what she described as sex trafficking by the two men. Golden and Bjorkman, who are no longer affiliated with eXp, have denied the allegations. The case, Roberts v. eXp Realty, LLC, No. 2:23-cv-10492, is before U.S. District Judge André Birotte Jr.
In August, Judge Birotte split Roberts' claims into two jury trials and narrowed the case against the corporate defendants. His August 20 order released AGNT from all of Roberts' claims and granted Sanford summary judgment on vicarious liability and on negligent hiring, supervision and retention. That left Sanford and eXp Realty facing beneficiary liability claims under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, with eXp Realty also facing vicarious liability and negligent hiring, supervision and retention claims. Those claims were to be tried beginning November 16. The settlement resolves them.
The first trial, against Golden and Bjorkman alone, opened Monday, October 19, at the federal courthouse in Los Angeles. Jurors will consider Roberts' claims of sexual battery, civil battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress tied to events on or about March 10 to 13, 2020, in Florida. Roberts had earlier voluntarily dropped sex trafficking claims against the two former agents. The plaintiff estimated the trial would last five or six court days over the weeks of October 19 and October 26. Roberts settled separately in January 2026 with Brent Gove, the eXp team leader who hosted the recruiting events.
The settlement does not end eXp's exposure to the allegations. A related federal case known as Acevedo, brought in early 2023 by several plaintiffs who made similar accusations against Golden and Bjorkman and who allege the company and Sanford turned a blind eye because of the recruiting income the two men generated through eXp's revenue share program, remains pending before the same judge, with eXp Realty, AGNT and Sanford among the defendants. The same law firms represent the plaintiffs in both cases. A shareholder derivative suit in Delaware accusing Sanford and other directors of ignoring sexual misconduct has also been allowed to proceed.
The settlement comes weeks after a leadership change at the top of the company. Sanford stepped down as chief executive of AGNT earlier in October and was succeeded by Leo Pareja; Sanford remains chairman of the board.
eXp Realty is a cloud-based residential real estate brokerage that pays agents revenue share for recruiting other agents, a structure that has drawn comparisons to network marketing. Its parent, AGNT, Inc., trades on Nasdaq.