Two reports expand the timeline and scope surrounding the rape and sexual assault allegations weeks after claims first surfaced against Oren, Alon and Tal Alexander.
Accounts provided to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal show Oren and Tal faced allegations as far back as 2003, when they were high school students at Miami’s Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School. At least two other accounts were raised to Douglas Elliman senior leadership during their time as top performers at the brokerage.
As the brothers’ behavior came to be an “open secret” in the industry, former Elliman broker Brian Meier told the Times it was understood chairman Howard Lorber was aware of “at least one incident,” the outlet reported.
Reporting by the Times shows executives with Side, the white-label firm that backed their brokerage Official, were aware of concerns aired by real estate industry insiders ahead of the firm’s launch.
Seven women provided accounts to the Times that described allegations they were drugged after encounters with one or two of the brothers at the time. Tracy Tutor, a top Douglas Elliman agent who has appeared on “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles,” said she shared a drink with Oren after an event in 2014 and then blacked out.
A fellow Elliman agent found her in the restaurant bathroom with Oren and removed her. The agent, who remained anonymous, corroborated Tutor’s account and said they told a top executive about the incident.
Elliman agent Jessica Cohen attended a 2010 birthday party with Tal, Alon and Oren Alexander hours before passing out and waking up in the hospital after someone found her alone in the street.
Cohen told the Times she recounted the event to vice chairwoman Dottie Herman, whom Elliman said had no recollection of the allegation.
Cohen also said she told Lorber in 2012, when the two were playing chess after work, that she thought she’d been drugged by Tal and Oren.
Stephen Larkin, Douglas Elliman’s vice president of communications, confirmed that Lorber had heard of an incident but maintained that it was confidential and not an official human resources complaint. In a statement to The Real Deal, Larkin pushed back on Cohen’s account.
“Over at least a decade ago, a broker told a senior executive about having blacked out at a social event. She said that she did not know what, if anything, happened, she did not specify who may have been involved, and she insisted on absolute confidentiality,” Larkin said. “Douglas Elliman respected her wishes, and she has been a valued colleague at the company since then.”
Larkin said in the case of the Alexanders, Elliman “never received any complaints of sexual assault or harassment, nor was management aware of any such claims.”
Meier, a longtime Elliman broker, was involved in conversations about the Alexanders with Side, the white-label firm that partnered with Official.
An unnamed broker in New York told then-Side executive Meredith Moore that she wouldn’t work with Side if it partnered with the Alexanders. Moore said she told Guy Gal, Side’s founder and CEO, “but there did not seem to be a sense of urgency.” Moore was laid off a few weeks later.
In a statement to TRD, Side denied the basis of the claims in the Times report.
“Side does not share information about partnerships with outside agents prior to the actual launch of the new company, so it is not possible that agents from Douglas Elliman could have informed anyone at Side about these allegations before the launch of the firm,” said a spokesperson for the firm.
“The first time we heard about the allegations was a day before they were published. We never would have moved forward with or maintained a partnership had we been aware.”
Allegations against the brothers surfaced last month, when TRD reported on two initial lawsuits filed against Alon and Oren, and another filed against Tal, Alon and Oren.
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Two women in New York accused Oren and Alon Alexander of raping and sexually assaulting them more than a decade ago, according to a lawsuit filed in March and first reported by TRD in June. Days later, another woman in New York sued all three brothers, alleging Tal and Alon raped her while Oren watched.
Tal and Oren stepped down from their roles at Official following news of the allegations and are no longer listed as co-founders on the brokerage’s website. The firm’s remaining co-founders, Nicole Oge, Richard Jordan and Andrew Wachtfogel, are still at the helm.
This article has been updated with statements from Side and Douglas Elliman.