While much of the housing industry’s focus is on Zillow’s Premier Agent and Flex lawsuit, the listing portal giant is also facing a job discrimination suit.
The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in U.S.District Court in Denver by Samuel James Herrera, who calls himself “a day-one Zillow employee.” According to the complaint, Herrera was wrongfully terminated by Zillow in February 2024.
During his time with the firm, Herrera claims he earned seven promotions, ultimately landing in the role of general manager of rentals, Eastern region in 2022.
At Zillow, Herrera said he was known for his “stellar performance,” which he claims continued in his final general manager role. In this role, Herrera claims he regularly exceeded his sales goals, but despite this, he says he was passed over for further promotions and held to different standards than his white colleagues.
“When Mr. Herrera’s superb sales propelled him to the Director level, Zillow halted his climb up the corporate ladder by denying him further promotional and earning opportunities in favor of less qualified White employees,” the complaint states.
In the complaint, Herrera claims that after complaining of discrimination, Zillow forced him out of the company. According to the complaint, Zillow conducted an extensive investigation into Herrera after a terminated employee accused him to sexual harassment and discrimination. Herrera was cleared in the investigation, however, he claims that the feedback he received from company leaders “was filled with stereotypes about Hispanic men.” At the close of the investigation, Herrera says he was given the choice of resigning or being put on a performance improvement plan. He chose the performance improvement plan.
In contrast, Herrera claims that similar complaints made against his white colleagues and the firm’s white executives were “ignored or perfunctorily investigated.” Herrera alleges that after being placed on the performance improvement plan, he “observed his White colleagues engaging with impunity in the same behaviors for which Zillow had punished him.”
Herrera’s time at Zillow ended in February 2024 after he took a veteran Zillow employee to a five-hour, $724 dinner to ask for advice on a difficult project. According to the complaint, Herrera had received approval for the dinner and that the total cost was “not extraordinary for Zillow working dinners.”
Despite this alleged approval, Herrera said he was terminated for allegedly violating the company’s travel and expense policy. Herrera says that he was not given an opportunity to reimburse Zillow for the dinner, and he claims that his immediate supervisors “had repeatedly ignored white executives’ lavish spending if their sales were strong,” as his sales were at the time.
Herrera is demanding a jury trial and damages.
Zillow did not return HousingWire’s request for comment.
