Fired Las Vegas Realtors CEO claims she was painted as ‘corrupt CEO’ by organization

The former longtime chief executive officer of the Las Vegas Realtors is suing her former employer and a number of high-profile real estate agents in the Las Vegas Valley for a litany of allegations, including wrongful termination and defamation.

Wendy DiVecchio claims she was wrongfully terminated from her role at LVR, the largest real estate trade association in Southern Nevada with nearly 15,000 members, on Jan 27 after an investigation into alleged tampering of the August LVR board of directors election. The firing came after she was suspended from her role during the investigation on Aug. 9.

She filed the lawsuit against LVR along with 11 board members, directors and staff in Clark County District Court on Feb. 3.

DiVecchio claims the investigation was designed to ensure that she would be dismissed from her role no matter what evidence was found. She also says in the lawsuit that she was denied due process regarding allegations of theft of LVR funds later made against her by various members of the board.

The lawsuit also claims DiVecchio was asked to keep the details of the investigation confidential but specifics were posted on social media by association members and later appeared in the news media, painting her as a “corrupt CEO.” She said leaked investigation material caused “irreparable damage” to her professional reputation and character.

And when the investigation was complete, the report was “inconclusive” and didn’t find any wrongdoing on the part of DiVecchio, the lawsuit states.

Additionally, DiVecchio claims in the lawsuit that she was provided accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act but was later publicly humiliated for accepting them, and her duties were modified and her office was raided after the election tampering investigation started.

DiVecchio is also alleging LVR chief operating officer Daniel Harris, who is named in the lawsuit, was tracking her location via an app. Harris served as interim CEO of LVR during the investigation into DiVecchio.

In an email response to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, LVR President George Kypreos addressed the allegations in the lawsuit.

“Ms. DiVecchio’s lawsuit contains various misstatements and unfounded assumptions that we look forward to addressing in due course as part of the legal process. While we understand that many of our members may have questions, we cannot comment on ongoing litigation,” he said.

DiVecchio is seeking damages in excess of $15,000.

Controversy at LVR

The trade organization has been marred by controversy which started last year when a fight broke out between two real estate agents at a board meeting in March, ending with police being called to the scene.

Then in August, more than 50 real estate agents showed up to the Las Vegas Realtors headquarters demanding an independent investigation and transparency into alleged election interference. This stemmed around the suspension of DiVecchio for 30 days due to allegations of interfering in the election.

Further in November, multiple members of the association confirmed to the Las Vegas Review-Journal they had filed formal complaints against the LVR leadership structure with the Nevada attorney general’s office regarding the election tampering.

Then in early January, Merri Perry, LVR’s outgoing board president, and Joshua Campa, who was set to become bard president, abruptly resigned from their posts.

Campa was replaced by Kypreos, who released a video on the LVR’s YouTube page detailing the situation and said the days of “neon lights, cheap tricks and endless distractions” are over at the association.

Contact Patrick Blennerhassett at pblennerhassett@reviewjournal.com.