Douglas Elliman Firm Sued for Allegedly Enabling Alexander Brothers

Real estate firm Douglas Elliman Inc. and its former chief executive officer Howard Lorber were sued by five women who say they were sexually assaulted by the Alexander brothers, as part of a lawsuit against the siblings that accused several parties of enabling their alleged misconduct.

The complaint, filed Friday in New York state court, also names the parents of the three brothers and a family-run security company, Kent Security Services, as defendants. Two of the brothers, Oren and Tal Alexander, were star brokers at Douglas Elliman before they started their own firm in 2022. The third brother, Alon Alexander, worked at Kent Security.

“The Alexander Brothers sex trafficked so many women over such a long period of time because they had money, resources, and help from many others,” the women said in the lawsuit, which accused the brothers of running a “sex trafficking ring.”

The women cited a New York City statute that allows for lawsuits against “a party who commits, directs, enables, participates in, or conspires in the commission of a crime of violence motivated by gender.” They are suing for an unspecified amount of damages.

The case is one of several civil suits alleging sexual assault by Oren, Tal and Alon that were filed last week ahead of a Feb. 28 deadline for people to sue under the act even if the normal time limit for their claims had lapsed.

The Alexander brothers are also facing federal sex-trafficking charges to which all three have pleaded not guilty. The government has not accused Douglas Elliman, Lorber, the parents, or Kent Security of wrongdoing.

Many of the allegations against the brothers span the decade that Oren and Tal worked at the brokerage. The two were major real estate agents in cities including New York and Miami, working with an extensive roster of ultra-wealthy and celebrity clients. Like most real estate agents, Oren and Tal were independent contractors when they worked at Douglas Elliman.

‘False and Irresponsible’

Friday’s complaint appears to be the first time that Douglas Elliman, Lorber, the Alexanders’ parents, or Kent Security have been included in a lawsuit alleging sexual misconduct by the siblings.

The lawsuit alleged that Douglas Elliman and Lorber, the former CEO, failed to properly oversee Tal and Oren and “created the opportunity” for the women to be “dehumanized and violated” by the brothers. The women also claim that Douglas Elliman and Lorber “knew or should have known that defendant Tal Alexander and/or defendant Oren Alexander had the propensity and did in fact sexually abuse, assault, batter, drug and/or rape women.”

Douglas Elliman declined to comment. Marc Kasowitz, a lawyer for Lorber, said the allegations against his client had “no connection to reality” and were “false and irresponsible.”

Lawyers for all three brothers called the new suit’s allegations unsupported and accused the women of hoping to win outsized damages.

A lawyer for Oren Alexander said the suit amounted to “unsupported, uncorroborated claims” and that his client had passed a polygraph examination. Tal’s attorney called the lawsuit “outrageous.” A lawyer for Alon said his client had also passed a lie-detector test and the women bringing the case had failed to give any “forensic evidence that they were drugged or that Alon had any sexual contact with them.”

‘Other Resources’

The lawsuit alleged the three brothers “could not and would not have sex trafficked all of these women without the financial and other resources provided by their parents” and their security company.

The parents, Orly and Shlomo Alexander, and Kent Security also “created the opportunity” for the alleged misconduct, according to the complaint. Furthermore, the parents and Kent Security “had a duty to stop” Alon because he worked at the security company, according to the women.

Howard Srebnick, who is also representing the parents as well as Alon in the case, said in a statement that suing Orly and Shlomo was a “desperate attempt at a payday.”

The president, chief executive officer and a vice president for Kent Security didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment. A representative for the company told the New York Times that Kent Security didn’t receive allegations about Alon when he worked there and that its policy was to not comment on pending litigation, according to the newspaper.

The brothers are currently in custody at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center while they await trial on the federal charges.