Real Brokerage settles lawsuit with former CFO

Real Brokerage announced it settled a lawsuit filed by its former chief financial officer.

Michelle Ressler sued the brokerage in June, accusing the brokerage of scaling back her role after going on maternity leave and firing her for pushing back against the alleged discrimination.

Ressler was fired in April 2024, three months after returning from maternity leave. An internal audit showed she’d made more than $17,000 in purchases on her company card between March and July 2024, which she claimed were work-related expenses.

As part of the settlement, Ressler agreed to reimburse Real for “personal charges” made on her corporate card, according to a press release from the brokerage. Real is not making any payment to Ressler, according to the release.

Ressler’s lawsuit came during an already-difficult year for the fast-growing company, which has seen its stock fall by nearly 20 percent as it has fought towards profitability amid shareholder dilution.

In the third quarter, it nearly broke even, reporting a net loss of $280,000, an improvement from last year’s loss of $2.5 million. It has continued to grow rapidly, increasing its transaction count by over 49 percent in the third quarter and adding roughly 2,100 agents organically to its platform during those three months.

The company’s gross margin fell in the quarter from the prior year to 7.9 percent from 8.6 percent, which chief financial officer Ravi Jani attributed during the company’s earnings call to more transactions coming from high-performing agents hitting a volume threshold that allowed them to pay $285 per transaction rather than a standard 15 percent split.

The company also reported roughly $200,000 in revenue from its agent banking option, known as Real Wallet. Ressler’s lawsuit had alleged that the offering did not work, resulting in duplicate commission payments and an inability for agents to access funds.

This article originally appeared on The Real Deal. Click here to read the full story.