Michelle Ressler, former CFO of the Real Brokerage, who sued the company in June for alleged pregnancy discrimination and retaliation, is entering into mediation with her former employer, according to a court filing today.
A joint letter signed by one of Real’s lawyers asked a federal judge to pause the case as “the parties have agreed to attempt to mediate their dispute,” promising to file a status update with the court on October 10 of this year.
The letter noted that there was an upcoming deadline in which Real intended to file “counterclaims” related to Ressler’s “alleged personal expenses,” which are a key dispute in the original lawsuit. Mediation will begin as soon as scheduling permits, the letter said.
A message left with the law firm representing Ressler was not immediately returned. Representatives of the Real Brokerage declined to comment through a spokesperson, citing the pending litigation.
Ressler was terminated from Real back in April, with the company putting out a press release saying she “violated Company policies.” Ressler claims Real used the press release to imply that she had engaged in significant fraud, when the actual dispute was over around $17,000 of expenses charged to a company card.
According to Ressler’s lawsuit, Real Brokerage executives (including CEO Tamir Poleg) made discriminatory comments regarding her pregnancy, and eventually pushed her out of her position. Poleg and Real cited airline flights and “entertainment” expenses Ressler used company funds for as reason to fire her, with Ressler claiming the expenses were job-related, and saying that she offered to pay the money back when it was brought to her attention.
Ressler also claimed she flagged other issues with company products and “financial controls” ahead of her firing, calling the $17,000 in expenses “pretextual.”
This is a developing story. Stay tuned to RISMedia for updates.
