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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

FORT PIERCE DIVISION

JACOB BAILEY AND

STEVEN BANASIAK

On behalf of themselves 

and those similarly situated, 

 Plaintiffs, 

vs. Case No. 

KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY INC.

a/k/a KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY INTERNATIONAL, 

SAFE HARBOR REALTY OF PORT ST. LUCIE, LLC

d/b/a KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY OF PORT ST. LUCIE, 

and

SAFE HARBOR REALTY OF MARTIN COUNTY, LLC

d/b/a KELLER WILLIAMS OF THE TREASURE COAST

 Defendants. 

_____________________________/

COMPLAINT

Plaintiffs Jacob Bailey and Steven Banasiak on behalf of themselves and 

those similarly situated to them sue Defendants and states as follows:

JURISDICTION

Jurisdiction in this Court is proper under 29 U.S.C. §1331 as this action 

arises under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §2000e and the 

Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §12131.

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VENUE

Venue is proper in this Court as Defendant Safe Harbor Realty of Port St. 

Lucie d/b/a Keller Williams of Port St. Lucie (hereinafter Defendant Safe Harbor

PSL) and Safe Harbor Realty of Martin County d/b/a Keller Williams of Martin 

County (hereinafter Defendant Safe Harbor Martin) are corporations conducting 

business within the Southern District and Defendant Keller Williams Realty, Inc. 

a/k/a Keller Williams Realty International (hereinafter Keller Williams 

International) is the national company that provided the franchise opportunity to 

Defendants Safe Harbor PSL and Safe Harbor Martin. 

CONDITIONS PRECEDENT

All conditions precedent to the filing of this suit have been met. Plaintiffs 

each filed a Charge of Discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity 

Commission (“EEOC”) within 300 days of the discriminatory/retaliatory events. 

See Composite Exhibit A. Each Plaintiff received a Dismissal and Notice of Rights. 

Plaintiff Bailey’s Notice was issued on June 16, 2022. Plaintiff Banasiak’s Notice 

was issued on June 24, 2022, and both filed suit within 90 days of receipt. See

Composite Exhibit B. 

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FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS COMMON TO ALL CLAIMS

1. Plaintiff Jacob Bailey was employed by Safe Harbor PSL beginning in January 

2015.

2. Plaintiff Steven Banasiak was employed by Safe Harbor PSL from November 

16, 2017, until March 3, 2020, when he was transferred to its sister 

company Safe Harbor Martin.

3. There were several Safe Harbor companies that were franchises of 

Defendant Keller Williams International and joint employers of Plaintiffs.

4. These companies shared common ownership, held joint company 

meetings, and occasionally had an employee in one office cover in another 

office. The companies were considered “sister companies.” 

5. Plaintiff Banasiak held trainings for agents from all five of the Safe Harbor 

brokerages. 

6. Together, the sister companies have 15 or more employees and, therefore, 

are covered by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. 

7. In 2020, Seth Campbell who was a top Keller Williams franchisee was sued 

for sexual battery. After a several-month investigation into multiple 

allegations of sexual harassment, Defendant Keller Williams International

removed Mr. Campbell.

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8. In February 2021, the President of Defendant Keller Williams International, 

Josh Teams, announced that he would be resigning his position.

9. Just weeks later, Mr. Teams was arrested on the charge of indecent 

exposure, which was subsequently dismissed.

10.Nikki Ubaldini, who is the principal over 32 Keller Williams International 

offices, making her a regional owner with Keller Williams International,

began Women Empowered (WE) for the stated purpose of helping women 

become empowered and to become their own advocates.

11.At a mandatory regional corporate meeting/training of Defendant Keller 

Williams International, Ms. Ubaldini announced the implementation of WE

movement at Keller Williams International.

12. As franchises of Defendant Keller Williams International, Defendant Safe 

Harbor PSL and Defendant Safe Harbor Martin were required to implement 

the WE program.

13.In some franchises, such as Defendant Safe Harbor PSL and Safe Harbor 

Martin, instead of empowering women, WE was creating discrimination 

against men.

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14. Specifically, Plaintiff Bailey, who had grown Defendant Safe Harbor PSL’s 

business significantly over many years, was passed over for a promotion to 

General Manager. 

15.The person selected as General Manager, Janelle Laurenzano, was someone 

who Plaintiff Bailey had hired and trained. 

16.Once. Ms. Laurenzano was the General Manager, she instituted a new dress 

code policy that only applied to the male employees. One example is the 

requirement all facial hair being clean cut, which clearly only applies to 

men.

17.Additionally, Ms. Laurenzano made inappropriate comments, bragging to 

staff that at her previous job, she told male superiors she “had bigger balls 

than them.”

18.Male employees were told that it was “girl power” time and men needed to 

take a step back. 

 

COUNT 1—GENDER DISCRIMINATION UNDER TITLE VII

(Individual and Class Claim)

Plaintiffs incorporate all prior paragraphs as if fully stated herein.

19. Plaintiff Bailey and Plaintiff Banasiak are both males.

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20.Plaintiff Bailey was a successful agent at Defendant Safe Harbor PSL for five 

and a half years, during which time, he hired and trained agents.

21.Plaintiff Banasiak was a successful Broker and was considered one of the 

best technology trainers at Safe Harbor PSL. 

22.In addition to Plaintiff Bailey being passed over for a position for which he 

was more qualified than the female who was promoted, the Plaintiffs 

suffered unequal treatment as the rules that were put into place were not 

applied equally to men and women. 

23.Specifically, Plaintiff Bailey was told that if he ever missed a conference call 

or a regional meeting, he would be fired.

24.Plaintiff Bailey had recently become the sole care giver to his child, of which 

Ms. Laurenzano was made aware.

25.There were several times when female employees missed conference calls 

and regional meetings to care for their child/children and were not 

disciplined or terminated.

26.Since it was only a matter of time until Plaintiff Bailey and Plaintiff Banasiak 

were terminated, the were constructively discharged and submitted their 

resignations on August 17, 2020.

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WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs demand damages for lost wages/back pay, benefits, 

front pay, emotional distress damages, punitive damage, and all other 

compensatory damages allowable under law, attorney’s fees and costs and 

any other relief that the Court deems just and proper. 

COUNT 2--VIOLATION OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT

(Individual claim of Plaintiff Banasiak)

Plaintiff incorporates all prior paragraphs as if fully stated herein.

27.In January 2020, Plaintiff Banasiak was sick with what he believed to be the 

flu and bronchitis.

28.During the last week of March 2020, Plaintiff Banasiak began suffering the 

same symptoms and was told he had flu and bronchitis.

29.His doctor instructed him to take a week off work to rest.

30.This was the same time period that COVID 19 was becoming a concern.

31.Even though he was authorized by his doctor to take a week off, Plaintiff 

Banasiak was required by Defendant Safe Harbor Martin to work from 

home, including attending corporate zoom meetings and conducting 

multiple Zoom trainings for agents from all five of the Safe Harbor 

brokerages.

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32.Over the course of the week, Plaintiff Banasiak’s condition worsened.

33.On March 27, 2020, Plaintiff Banasiak was rushed to the hospital with 

severe respiratory issues and cardiac symptoms.

34.During his hospital stay, Plaintiff Banasiak was diagnosed with congestive 

heart failure and was placed under around the clock cardiac care.

35.After five days, Plaintiff Banasiak was released to the care of his mother 

who had been a registered nurse for over 40 years.

36.As a condition of Plaintiff Banasiak’s release, he was required to wear a 

heart monitor that had a portable defibrillator. 

37.Plaintiff Banasiak was advised that he was at risk for a stroke or massive 

heart attack and, therefore, needed to keep his stress low.

38.Regardless, the day after Plaintiff Banasiak was released from the hospital, 

Charles Possess, the owner of the Safe Harbor franchises asked how soon 

he would be returning to the office. 

39.Plaintiff Banasiak explained that, based on his congestive heart failure and 

the potential complications that could be caused by stress, he could not

return to work at this time. 

40.Mr. Possess pressured Plaintiff Banasiak until he agreed to try to work from 

home.

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41.For the next two weeks, Plaintiff Banasiak was put under daily pressure to 

return to work.

42.Even though it was against the advice of his medical professionals, Plaintiff 

Banasiak returned to work approximately two weeks after he had been 

released from the hospital for fear of losing his job. 

43.Defendant Safe Harbor Martin continued to fail to accommodate Plaintiff 

Banasiak’s disability over the next several months. 

44.In addition to the sex discrimination, the failure of his employer to make 

any accommodations for his disability, caused him to resign.

JURY DEMAND

Plaintiffs hereby demand a trial by jury on all issues.

Dated: September 14, 2022, Respectfully submitted,

/s/Beth Coke

Beth Coke

Fla. Bar. #70726 

Beth@cokeemploymentlaw.com

Coke Employment Law

131 N. 2nd Street, Suite 204

Fort Pierce, Fl. 34950

Telephone: (772) 252-4230 

Facsimile: (772) 252-4575

Attorney for Plaintiffs 

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