Keller Williams has successfully settled the legal dispute surrounding its profit-sharing program changes. The real estate franchisee reached a settlement agreement with the plaintiffs’ counsel in the Mcfarlane suit, putting an end to the breach-of-contract lawsuits filed against it by attorneys at the law firm of Humphrey, Farrington & McClain PC. The agreement includes cases filed by plaintiffs and former KW agents Eric Mendoza, Jerri Moulder, Jana and Dennis Caudill, Penny Alper, Paul Davis, Kevin Ortiz, and Edward Fordyce.
The settlement agreement is expected to be finalized by mid-October, as per the court docket entry. Keller Williams spokesperson Darryl Frost confirmed that the matters have been “amicably resolved and settled,” in an email to HousingWire.
The Mcfarlane suit, filed by James Mcfarlane in May, was just one of several lawsuits brought against Keller Williams by former agents following the announcement of changes to the profit-sharing program. The changes, which would have reduced profit-share distributions for vested “former” KW agents from 100% to 5%, were rescinded by the International Association Leadership Council (IALC) in May.
Keller Williams’ profit-sharing program allows agents to receive a portion of the market center’s profits based on their contributions to the business. Agents can designate a sponsor upon joining the market center, who then becomes part of their “profit share tree.”
Since its establishment in 1987, Keller Williams’ profit-sharing program has distributed over $2 billion in profits to affiliated agents. In the first half of 2024 alone, market centers awarded more than $148 million in profits to associates.
Related