President Of Powerful Realtors Group Is Accused Of Sexual Harassment

Real Estate|President of Powerful Realtors Group Is Accused of Sexual Harassment

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President of Powerful Realtors Group Is Accused of Sexual Harassment

An employee described a “culture of fear” at the National Association of Realtors, a powerful nonprofit that controls access to nearly every U.S. home listing.

The National Association of Realtors has 1.5 million dues-paying members, making it the largest professional organization in the country. It owns the trademark to the word “Realtor.”Credit…Jamie Kelter Davis for The New York Times

By Debra Kamin

Debra Kamin spoke to more than 25 members, employees and former employees of the National Association of Realtors, traveling to both Chicago and Washington, D.C., while reporting this story.

Published Aug. 26, 2023Updated Aug. 29, 2023

[Update: Mr. Parcell resigned on Monday from the National Association of Realtors in the wake of The Times’s investigation.]

One woman said the man put his hands down his pants in front of her. Another woman said the same man texted her a picture of his crotch. A third woman said she had a consensual relationship with the man, only to have him retaliate after it ended.

The man is Kenny Parcell, the president of the National Association of Realtors, a powerful nonprofit organization with more than $1 billion in assets that controls access to nearly every American home listing. All three women, who worked at the Chicago-based group, said they were sexually harassed by Mr. Parcell, and described a pattern of behavior that included improper touching and lewd photos and texts.

Within the organization, known as N.A.R., and its affiliates, 29 employees and former leaders told The New York Times that even after years of complaints of sexual harassment, discrimination and retribution by Mr. Parcell and other leaders, little changed. Many of these claims have begun to surface in recent weeks after Janelle Brevard,

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