Keller Williams class actions claim changes to profit-sharing program decreased distributions

Keller Williams class actions overview: 

• Who: Plaintiffs Edward Fordyce and Kevin Ortiz filed separate class action lawsuits against Keller Williams.
• Why: The lawsuits allege Keller Williams changed the vested portion of its profit-sharing plan to cut payments for those who have left the company to work for competing brokerages. 
• Where: The Keller Williams lawsuits were filed in Colorado and Pennsylvania.

A pair of new Keller Williams class actions claim the company changed the distributions in the vested portion of its profit-sharing plan to cut payments to former employees who were part of the plan.

The company board changed the Keller Williams profit-sharing plan after hearing a report that the company had paid approximately $25 million to $40 million in distributions to non-Keller Williams employees who were directly competing with Keller Williams over the year before Aug. 14, 2019, according to the class actions.

Associates with an anniversary date before April 1, 2020, were never required to remain part of the company to be part of the profit-sharing plan before the changes, according to the Keller Williams class actions.

Distributions cut to 5% of prior payments, Keller Williams class actions claim

The Keller Williams International Associate Leadership Council voted in an Aug. 16, 2023, meeting to change the vesting of some former associates in the profit-sharing plan to 5% of what they were previously owed.

The affected groups include those who work for a non-Keller Williams brokerage or have tried to recruit Keller Williams associates to a non-Keller Williams brokerage. The company told associates they could rejoin Keller Williams within six months of being notified of the company changes and retain their previous profit-sharing plan distributions.

The board also voted to pay for any attorneys’ fees or legal fees from challenges to the Keller Williams profit-sharing plan changes from the profit-sharing plan itself. The plaintiffs in the Keller Williams class actions are asking for an injunction against the changes, as well as damages and attorneys’ and court fees.

Re/Max, Anywhere and Keller Williams agreed to collectively pay $208.5 million in proposed class action settlements to resolve claims that they implemented and enforced anti-competitive rules on commissions.

Are you part of the Keller Williams profit-sharing plan? Let us know in the comments.

Plaintiff Edward Fordyce is represented by Albert A. Ciardi III and Jennifer C. McEntee of Ciardi Ciardi and Astin and Kenneth B. McClain, Jonathan M. Soper and Kevin D. Stanley of Humphrey, Farrington and McClain PC.

Plaintiff Kevin Ortiz is represented by Kenneth B. McClain and Kevin D. Stanley of Humphrey, Farrington and McClain PC.

The Keller Williams class actions are Fordyce v. Keller Williams Realty Inc., Case No. 2:24-cv-01342, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Ortiz v. Keller Williams Realty Inc., Case No. 1:24-cv-00838, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.

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