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The drama involving the San Diego Association of Realtors (SDAR) and San Diego MLS (SDMLS) is ramping up.
Last month, Michael Mercurio, the former CEO of SDAR and SDMLS, filed a lawsuit alleging that he was wrongfully terminated. This comes as a separate suit against Mercurio is slated to go to trial in October 2025.
In his suit filed in San Diego County Superior Court, Mercurio alleges that the classification of his April 2023 termination from the association “for cause” due to “vague, unsubstantiated, and ultimately disproven allegations” was simply an excuse to avoid paying him a contractual obligated severance package.
“Plaintiff brings this action not only to recover the substantial damages he has suffered, but to hold SDAR accountable for its breach of contractual and legal duties, and to restore his good name,” the complaint states.
Shortly after Mercurio was fired from SDAR, former executives at the association filed a lawsuit against the trade group and Mercurio.
In their July 2023 suit, they said they were fired for raising concerns about Mercurio’s behavior. This included his alleged use of association credit cards for personal purchases, selling pricey items paid for by the association on eBay and increasing his vacation time by 300 hours before cashing it out.
The complaint claimed that this resulted in $1 million worth of fraud.
In his wrongful termination suit, Mercurio claims that SDAR’s board of directors confirmed after an investigation that he had not committed payroll fraud, self-dealing or intentionally falsified expense reports.
“The only criticisms levied against Plaintiff amounted to subjective complaints regarding his managerial style and focus on administrative minutiae — concerns long known to the Performance Review Committee and previously condoned,” Mercurio’s complaint states.
“While some members of the larger Board may have been surprised to learn details of Plaintiffs benefits — such as his PTO package, travel allowances, and running balance of reimbursable expenses — SDAR’s executive leadership had long approved or ratified those arrangements. These cannot now be retroactively weaponized to support a termination for cause.”
In addition to wrongful termination, Mercurio’s suit accuses SDAR and SDMLS of breach of contract, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and failure to timely pay all wages owed at separation.
Mercurio also claims that he was “subjected to repeated, offensive, and unwelcome sexual and racial comments and conduct by senior members of SDAR’s Board, including then-Presidents Chris Anderson (2022) and Frank Powell (2023)” from 2022 until his termination in April 2023.
He claims that he told SDAR’s board members about these comments, but instead of addressing his complaints, Mercurio said that SDAR retaliated against him by “marginalizing his authority, falsely accusing him of misconduct, and ultimately terminating him on April 30, 2023.”
Anderson, who is currently serving her third non-consecutive term as SDAR president, was named in the former executives’ lawsuit as one of the SDAR board members who allegedly turned “a blind eye” to Mercurio’s alleged behavior.
Industry veteran Saul Klein was brought in to replace Mercurio at SDMLS in January 2024, while Tessa Hultz was named as CEO of SDAR in December 2024.
English (US) ·