V.P. of Real Estate Group Voted Out After Harassment Allegations

The vice president of the nation’s key trade group for real estate appraisers, Craig Steinley, has been removed from his role, less than two weeks after a New York Times investigation exposed allegations from women that he had groped them without their consent.

At an emergency meeting on Wednesday, the national board of the Appraisal Institute voted to oust Mr. Steinley, 64. The 28-member board came to its decision after more than three hours of debate.

Mr. Steinley, in a statement sent by his lawyer, called the decision to remove him “a deliberate act of retaliation driven by internal politics,” and promised to “vigorously defend myself” over what he described as “baseless claims.”

In an article in The Times, multiple women said they had been harassed or subject to inappropriate conduct by Mr. Steinley. The Appraisal Institute paid $412,000 in May 2024 to a former employee to privately settle her sexual harassment claim against him and the organization, The Times found.

In an emailed statement, the Appraisal Institute said they made the decision “acting in the best interest” of the group. They added that the allegations in Ms. Chance’s complaint would be “addressed in a court of law.” Craig Capilla, the lawyer for Mr. Steinley, confirmed by text message that his client had been voted out by a two-thirds majority.

Last week, Mr. Steinley agreed to step away from public duties related to his position and skipped the Leadership Development and Advisory Council, an appraisers’ conference in Washington, D.C., that is a cornerstone of the professional year for appraisers across the country.