(Bloomberg) -- Two weeks before Howard Lorber retired as chairman and chief executive officer of Douglas Elliman Inc., he said at an internal inquiry that he had intimate relationships with two of the company’s brokers, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
The revelation came during a five-hour videoconference call on Oct. 8 where Lorber was questioned about his personal life and allegations of sexual harassment at the firm that he ran for 21 years, the person said. At the session, he was interviewed by lawyers working for a special committee of the board formed in August after directors deemed an earlier review conducted by Lorber’s longtime lawyer Marc Kasowitz to be inadequate.
Douglas Elliman’s workplace culture was thrust into the spotlight over the summer after two of its former star brokers — brothers Oren and Tal Alexander — were each sued for their alleged roles in sexual assaults. The pair, known for their ultrawealthy clients, are fighting the claims and haven’t been charged with any crimes. They left the firm in 2022, but some of the alleged incidents occurred while they were top producers there.
Behind the scenes, the board took a deeper look at Lorber, with the special committee concluding his behavior had been inappropriate, the person said, asking not to be identified describing the confidential deliberations. The company announced Oct. 22 that its 76-year-old leader had decided to retire.
Douglass Maynard, a lawyer representing Lorber, declined to confirm or deny what the former CEO said during the videoconference. He said the notion that the special panel had concluded Lorber acted inappropriately and pushed him to step down would be “false and contrary to what the company disclosed” publicly.
In its statement at the time, the firm lauded Lorber’s “strategic vision and years of dedication and hard work.” And in a regulatory filing, it said his exit “was not due to any disagreement with the company on any matter relating to the company’s operations, policies or practices.”
The company didn’t have a policy against consensual relationships between employees and independent brokers, Maynard noted. He also said there was no conflict of interest regarding Kasowitz, whose law firm was preparing to defend the company against potential claims rather than conducting an independent investigation.
Kasowitz declined to comment to Bloomberg. He told the Wall Street Journal last month that any suggestion that his firm’s defense of Douglas Elliman “would be less aggressive or effective in finding out the true facts because of our longtime relationship with Mr. Lorber makes no sense and is the exact opposite of the truth.”
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier on the board’s push for Lorber’s exit, its additional inquiry and the sidelining of Kasowitz, without details about Lorber’s admissions.
A spokesman for Douglas Elliman said the company is “moving forward” under its new CEO, Michael Liebowitz, adding that “we are focused on our culture, people and clients.” He declined to comment about allegations of sexual harassment at the firm or Lorber’s behavior.
Chairman’s Circle
One of the brokers with whom Lorber acknowledged a relationship was Jennine Gourin, according to the person familiar with the videoconference. They appeared together at Hamptons fundraisers featured in the New York Post in 2013 and the Wall Street Journal in 2014, among other events, including some hosted by the company.
In 2013 and 2014, she netted more than half a million dollars in commissions, according to data provided by the lawyer. That vaulted her into Douglas Elliman’s “chairman’s circle,” a term for some of the firm’s top earners.
At property brokerages, it’s generally up to agents such as Gourin to find their own listings, though developers and customers do sometimes seek advice about whom to use, said Maynard, the attorney.
“When asked, Mr. Lorber on occasion recommended Ms. Gourin, as he has done with hundreds of other agents, both male and female,” he said.
Gourin declined to comment.
The other broker Lorber said he had a relationship with was Jessica Cohen, according to the person familiar with the matter.
Cohen’s lawyer described her as a “victim.”
“Any notion that Ms. Cohen had a ‘romantic’ relationship with Mr. Lorber, or that any such relationship made it easier for her to become a top broker is categorically false,” her attorney, Michael Willemin, said in an e-mailed statement. “Cohen was a top broker long before she met Mr. Lorber, and the treatment that she suffered at his hands and that of Douglas Elliman have had a profoundly negative impact on her life and career.”
Maynard disputed that characterization of Lorber: “The statement by Ms. Cohen’s lawyer is false and is flatly contradicted by what she told numerous people both orally and in writing over many years.”
Forfeiting Millions
Cohen, who was given a Douglas Elliman lifetime achievement award this year, is among women who have gone public to describe their experiences with the Alexander brothers.
The New York Times reported in July that she said she had a drink with the Alexander brothers at a birthday party in Manhattan in October 2010 and woke up in a hospital. She said she told Lorber during a game of chess two years later that she believed she may have been drugged that night, but asked him not to take any action.
Lawyers for Tal Alexander told Bloomberg they had looked into his previous conduct “and expect that anyone who investigates these matters will determine what we have — that Tal has done nothing wrong.” Oren Alexander declined to comment. Lorber wasn’t aware of any allegations of sexual assault against the Alexanders prior to June 2024, according to his attorney.
Douglas Elliman has been a standalone public company since its spinoff from Vector Group Ltd., which Lorber also controlled, in December 2021.
When Lorber left Douglas Elliman, he forfeited unvested shares that would have been worth about $4.3 million when they were canceled, as well as his right to any severance payouts, worth about $6.4 million more, regulatory filings show.
--With assistance from Caleb Melby and Patricia Hurtado.
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