A thumb drive full of evidence could prove important in a yearslong lawsuit that alleged former local Realtor Mike Bjorkman committed multiple sexual assaults that were covered up by the billion-dollar real estate firm that employed him.
A federal judge granted an unopposed motion in November that moved arguments over that thumb drive from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, with no new court dates yet.
The Dec. 8 move sends the call to the Central District of California in Downtown Los Angeles, where Judge Andre Birotte Jr., former prosecutor there, will now decide on a third amended complaint against Bjorkman, 52, eXp Realty, and his codefendants.
At the center of the latest round of discussion: the unredacted “case file” produced by a detective during his October deposition, which was adjourned prematurely, according to the lawyers for the alleged victims.
Four women are named in the latest accusations filed in October, which allege Bjorkman gave women intoxicants such as gamma-hydroxybutyrate, or GHB, and alcohol powder without their knowledge at eXp Realty events, then the firm was told about it multiple times and moved to cover up the allegations in the interest of profit.
Two felony sexual assault charges were filed in March 2021 against Bjorkman in Las Vegas, where some of the events in the allegations were held. Those charges were dismissed in May 2021. A Special Victims Unit official confirmed Wednesday that Bjorkman was investigated for a 2007 allegation, but no victim was located.
In February 2023, the first of several civil complaints that alleged drugging and a subsequent attempt to cover up the incident were filed, and they’ve been amended several times in the past two years.
Bjorkman, who has since moved to Ventura, said in a 2023 interview with The Signal that he’s “been through hell” since the 2021 arrest. He has denied all wrongdoing and said eXp Realty is the target of the lawsuit.
The complaint alleges independent firm eXp Realty repeatedly put profits over people and made the decision to continue to pay Bjorkman and former CEO David Golden rather than treat the accusations seriously.
“After having received actual knowledge of the underlying allegations lodged against ‘defendant Bjorkman’ (allegations that multiple eXp employees, including Chief Legal Officer Jim Bramble, eXp Realty CEO Jason Gesing, and the Director of Agent Compliance Cory Haggard all believed were credible), ‘defendant Sanford’ personally directed eXp World Holdings’ Chief Legal Officer Jim Bramble to accelerate ‘defendant Bjorkman’s’ vesting period,” according to the complaint. “Moreover, after having actual knowledge of these complaints, ‘defendant Sanford’ inserted himself into eXp Realty’s Agent Compliance Committee meeting (which he had never done before or since) and vigorously advocated his position that the committee should allow ‘defendant Bjorkman’ to return to active status at eXp Realty.”
A request for comment from eXp Realty’s legal counsel was not immediately returned Wednesday.
EXp Realty attorneys filed a motion in November to dismiss count 13 in the latest amended complaint, which is expected to be heard at an as-yet unscheduled hearing. That claim involved an allegation that eXp Realty violated the promise in its own manual to follow all complaints through to resolution.
A defense motion to hold off on future discovery, which was opposed by the plaintiffs, was granted in November, further delaying the proceedings due to the detective’s deposition.
The objection by Bjorkman and eXp Realty’s attorneys to evidence that was submitted by Detective Jason LaFreniere, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department investigator responsible for looking into the allegations, is the next major issue to decide.
At his deposition in October, more than two and a half years after the initial filing, LaFreniere produced a thumb drive with police records from his investigation.
When the plaintiffs’ attorney requested copies, Bjorkman’s attorney raised his concern about Nevada state law preventing unredacted police reports from being released.
In a motion to compel the thumb drive, the plaintiffs argued LaFreniere’s deposition was ended “prematurely” due to concerns from Bjorkman and Golden’s attorneys about what’s on the thumb drive. The thumb drive, they argued, was improperly “clawed back,” by the detective after the concern was raised.
On the drive: approximately 14 interviews, including those with the alleged victims, voicemails, pictures, screenshots, two officer reports and property records, according to the plaintiff’s motion.
Bjorkman and Golden’s attorneys argued that the production of unredacted police records would be a violation of Nevada law.
