A major real estate brokerage has called for the removal of a U.S. District Judge in Missouri from an antitrust case, citing campaign donations to his wife from attorneys representing the plaintiffs.
Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, one of the defendants in a lawsuit accusing brokerages of conspiring to inflate home sale commissions, argued that Judge Stephen Bough’s continued oversight of the case creates “an appearance of impropriety.” The company’s filing pointed to ethics rules that necessitate recusal when a judge has a personal connection to financial contributions from involved parties.
Bough’s wife, an attorney and city council member in Kansas City, reportedly received donations from members of the legal team suing Howard Hanna. The brokerage, which denies violating antitrust laws, raised concerns that these connections compromise the case’s integrity.
The legal battle stems from a 2023 lawsuit filed by home sellers, following a landmark class action jury verdict in Bough’s courtroom that resulted in over a billion dollars in settlements with brokerages and real estate industry groups. The case has triggered a surge of similar lawsuits nationwide.
Plaintiffs’ attorney Michael Ketchmark dismissed the recusal request as a strategic move, arguing that Howard Hanna only raised the issue after losing key motions. He defended contributions to a city council race as unrelated to the case and legally permissible.
Judge Bough had previously acknowledged the donations, stating that he had only recently become aware of them. He noted that defense firms in the Kansas City area had also contributed to his wife’s campaign. At an earlier hearing, he even offered to step down, though neither party requested his recusal at the time.
Howard Hanna, which brands itself as the largest family-owned brokerage in the U.S., employs 15,000 sales associates across nearly 500 offices and reported over $37 billion in closed sales last year.
The case, Don Gibson et al v. National Association of Realtors et al, is being heard in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.
