Keller Williams Sued Over Profit Share Changes

Two former Keller Williams agents have sued the brokerage giant, filing separate class-action lawsuits concerning alterations to the firm’s profit-share program.

The suits, filed by Jerri Moulder and David Bueker, allege breach of contract and unjust enrichment, seeking to halt additional fund payouts until the case is resolved, Inman reported.

Moulder, who worked for Keller Williams from 2002 to 2011, sued on March 22 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas at San Antonio, seeking class-action status and $250 million in damages. The suit challenges changes, announced last summer, to the profit-share program and accuses the firm of breaching its contractual obligations.

On March 23, Bueker, a KW agent from 2003 to 2011, filed a similar complaint in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Missouri at St. Louis. While not specifying damages, Bueker’s suit also calls for a preliminary injunction to prevent further redistribution of disputed payments under the program.

The dispute stems from KW’s decision to alter profit-share eligibility for associates joining after April 1, 2020. Last August, KW’s International Associate Leadership Council voted to change the profit-share distribution policy retroactively. The change affected vested agents who joined before April 1, 2020 but later left the company, reducing their profit share from 100 percent to 5 percent if they compete with KW brokerages.

KW spokesperson Darryl Frost clarified the rationale behind the policy change, emphasizing its intention to redistribute funds to agents supportive of KW.

“This change will not affect agents that retire or leave the real estate brokerage business,” Frost told the outlet. “Importantly, this change does not enrich Keller Williams Realty, Inc. — these funds continue to enrich only affiliated real estate agents, investors, brokers and staff.”

Both lawsuits, filed by Missouri-based law firm Humphrey, Farrington & McClain, claim that KW anticipated breaching the contract and added a provision to the program’s terms to utilize funds for legal defense. The complaints argue that the retroactive change violates the terms of the contractual agreement between agents and KW.

Moulder, a broker associate with Platinum Realty in Kansas City, and Bueker, an agent with Red Key Realty Leaders in Chesterfield, Missouri, seek relief on behalf of agents impacted by the profit share alterations. The plaintiffs aim to represent individuals who joined KW before April 1, 2020 and those “designated by Keller Williams as being a Vested Competing Associate and have, or will have, payments under the Profit Sharing Program reduced from 100 to 5 percent,” the outlet reported.

—Quinn Donoghue