Zillow lawsuit against Compass ends in a legal settlement

Zillow lawsuit accusing Compass of delibrately taking on three technology executives has come to an end

Zillow Group and Compass have buried the hatchet over allegations that the SoftBank-backed brokerage poached three technology executives from the listings giant.

The two companies — at odds since Zillow filed two separate lawsuits in April — said that they settled those cases, which were filed in federal and Washington state court. “The two companies have agreed to resolve their differences,” a Compass spokesperson said, “and look forward to working together to help the entire real estate ecosystem.”

The news of the settlement came within an hour of Compass being hit with a searing lawsuit from Realogy — the parent company of the Corcoran Group, Coldwell Banker and others — accusing it of predatory recruiting and poaching, as well as price fixing and collusion. In a statement, Compass, which is valued at $4.4 billion, accused Realogy of turning to the courts to try to stifle competition.

In the Zillow cases, Compass was accused of hiring three technology executives from Zillow for its West Coast campus in violation of their non-competes. The listing giant also said Compass sought access to proprietary information that would accelerate its ability to build out a technology platform. A spokesperson for Zillow said the settlement agreement with Compass allows both firms to operate “in a fair, competitive environment.”

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