Kenny Parcell has resigned as the 2023 President of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) following a recent New York Times report accusing him of sexual harassment while describing NAR’s corporate culture where female real estate professionals were subjected to inappropriate behavior by male colleagues.
The news of Parcell’s resignation was first reported by the trade journal Inman News, which reported Parcell submitted a resignation letter today at 4:00 p.m. EDT. As of 5:00 p.m. EDT, NAR has not made an official announcement regarding the change in leadership.
“My resignation comes after a series of accusations against me that are categorically false,” said Parcell in his resignation letter, which was leaked to Inman News. “I am deeply troubled by those looking to tarnish my character and mischaracterize my well-intended actions. During this experience, I’ve opened myself to listening and looking for ways to improve myself, but all I can do is tell the truth. I’ve been shocked by these false accusations, hurtful words, whispers, and character assassination. has resigned.”
The Times’ article from Aug. 26 was rooted in claims made by a former NAR employee, Janelle Brevard, who said had a relationship with Parcell. Brevard has sued NAR for racial and sexual discrimination and harassment (she dropped her lawsuit in June after receiving a $107,000 settlement), and the Times article detailed claims that a culture existed within NAR of inappropriate behavior aimed at female real estate professionals.
Parcell is broker/owner of Equity Real Estate Utah and was the Utah Association of Realtors president in 2011. He held multiple positions within NAR including regional vice president in 2016 and vice president of government affairs.
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Since NAR has decided to go woke, this is entirely appropriate.
“Live by the sword, die by the sword.”
It’s so sad, someone needs to resign….. based on an accusation.
Guilty until proven innocent I guess!
Such a shame, they are after us all. Pure evil in wokeness and violating our free speech. Shame on the NAR and the leftist who have no remorse for ruining people’s lives.
What a ridiculous statement. Anytime somebody opens a comment using the made up term “Woke”, which is still yet to be defined, they exhibit their ignorance of how to communicate with anyone other than like ignoramuses. Say what you mean, take the time to show some intelligence, without using labels that only serve to divide people.
AMEN!!
Thank you! Well said!
Exactly right!
Don’t understand this comment. If you’re not woke, sexual harassment is OK? As a female, I like woke.
Shameful. Fake teeth and a fake character. Utah can do better and NAR can do better. $107,000??? WOW! Why settle if not guilty?
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Because, unfortunately it’s cheaper than fighting the lawsuit. It has been happening for years.
I met Kenny and found him to be a pleasant, intelligent and committed person. Just because a claim is made and a settlement agreed it doesn’t prove something. Many times a Leader will resign rather that let an issue tear down an organization. Let’s hear some facts, not just accusations and meaningless divisive words like “Woke”. We are all smarter than that.
107000 settlement anyone would say anything for this kind of money. I smell b u l l c r a p. I would have resigned too. Nobody needs accusing to earn a penny. Realtors are the worst. Coming from a REALTOR. The most sue happy bunch of crooks. Yes I said it. This is truth. After 14 years in the industry I have come to learn this.
I highly doubt this is guilty.
I’m amused how some people jump to conclusions without knowing the back story. Me think you protest too quickly. There’s a long tradition of people in power positions taking advantage of others. That may or may not be the case here. I think it’s nice that people are getting better at making their boundaries clear. Having some people respect those boundaries may require a longer learning curve.
It is another black eye on our industry (whether he did it or not). Between some of the ethics of real estate agents, the fair housing complaints, DOJ investigations of several issues, the rise of AI, off-market sales, and the idea that we may think we are professionals, but the public considers us money hungry salespeople, we need to make changes to enhance our reputation. And yes, every industry has its problems, however, we have a Code of Ethics. If the CoE’s are not followed, or we cannot police ourselves, it means nothing.
If you are an Realtor and you see something, say something. Agents should report violations of others to their respective Boards without fear of reprisal, because if we don’t the public will. Every time a Realtor does something wrong, it hurts all of us. ALL OF US!
As a licensed agent since 1985, a licensing and CE instructor, trained mediator, trainer & coach, prior Executive Board member of a local association, previous office manager and Broker of record I believe there are solutions and those who believe in our profession should be part of the solution. Whether it be training with a test afterwards that must be passed, creating stricter adherence to ethics, stopping the Circle of Excellence sales awards, or creating a national real estate license to go with your state license. There are ways to get back to our basics. We need to show the world we the go to real estate professional for their real estate needs because of our honesty, integrity, knowledge and true fiduciary responsibilities.
Well said Jeffrey, I 100% agree with you!
I agree with Jeffrey. Why was there a settlement of there was no wrongdoing?
Cheryl, as an attorney and broker, I can tell you that many settlements are made for financial reasons alone. NAR would probably spend more than $500,000 in legal fees just to fight the case. Less expensive to settle and save the member’s money. Some lawyers file these type of cases as they know they can obtain a settlement for that very reason. Truth or guilt is meaningless in settlements. The odd amount makes me believe she received her attorney fees and costs for bringing the suit. Basically, paid to go away with no evidence of any real issue.
Very true Royce!
I do not know the details of what happened, or the extent of what happened. Perhaps the accusations are false or exaggerated, perhaps they are true. Harassment can sometimes be unintentional or intentional, and I think that matters.
I would prefer a full hearing for both the accuser and the accused.
I personally have been subject real harrassment during my many decades on this earth, but I had known accusers who lie too. I was once asked by a female friend to lie for her to target a man she liked who was NOT returning her advances. She wanted me to support her claim against this man of rape! It was unreal. To say the least, we ended our friendship, and I advised her to get counseling. She was willing to ruin a good man’s life because she was jealous. It was ridiculous.
I have seen subtle and overt harassment, often in the more subtle forms of just excluding women from “male gatherings”, often golf time”. Golf may seem innocent, but chummy meetings on the golf course exclude many people, often women, but also others who do not play golf, yet many deals are made at golf courses, between golf buddies and gold connections. Thus, golf chums tend to circulate the best business deals and favors amongst themselves.
I do not know how to police such subtle problems that lead to discrimination, which sometimes is NOT intentional at all. Golf, itself, is that evil? The issue for many is simply being excluded. Even “girls” events can be perceived by men or those of other gender options are being exclusionary.
No one is perfect, and I think we all need to consider how our actions appear to others.
Even prayers, to me, are harassment because it puts pressure and judgment on those who do not hold those beliefs, yet prayers are often done at many broker’s parties during certain holidays. I find it amazing that swearing in ceremonies of politicians still involves a Bible. That is harassment and should be outlawed. Politicians are not taking an oath to the Bible; they are taking an oath to uphold the laws and to do their best to improve conditions for all people, which, ironically, sometimes means changing the laws.
Nothing is easy nor clear cut in a democracy.
It’s worth everyone’s time to read the original NYT article and the comments to that article. To me it’s still unclear what happened. The frothy headline, anger inducing opening paragraph and more balanced text of the article are at odds. Was it a crotch shot or was it a belt buckle design? We’ll never know. The comments to the NYT article are also illuminating. We live in a world of nuanced grays not black and white woke vs nonwoke. The media knows headlines will get us to react and rageclick. Let’s all fight the power by reading and researching before making assumptions and reacting.