Two real estate agents are denying that they drugged and sexually assaulted a Victoria woman at the real estate office they worked for in August 2018.
On Tuesday, Bowman Rutledge and Andy Rogers filed a response to a civil suit launched against them and Island Group Services Inc., doing business as Engel & Volkers Vancouver Island. They are being sued by a woman who made detailed allegations of sexual assault on the Vancouver Island Instagram account @survivorstoriesproject.
The plaintiff, identified as J.K., filed her notice of claim this month in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver. She alleges that she was sexually assaulted by Rutledge and Rogers, who were her real estate agents, at the Humboldt Street office of Engel & Volkers Vancouver Island.
J.K. alleges that in December 2017, she hired Rutledge and Rogers to sell her home. It sold in February 2018 and changed possession in May 2018. In August, J.K. agreed to meet Rutledge at a local bar to celebrate. When she arrived, Rogers was also there, and they asked her to come with them to the office before going to the bar for a drink so they could scan or print a document, her claim says.
J.K. alleges she was given a glass of wine with drugs in it. As soon as she drank it, she felt unwell and disoriented. Shortly after, she was sexually assaulted by both men, the claim alleges.
In the response to the claim, Rutledge says that he and J.K. were longtime friends and became closer “through the process of their professional relationship as client and real estate agent” during the winter of 2017-2018. During and following the sale of her home, J.K. and Rutledge regularly exchanged private messages on social media, including “J.K. sending nude photos of herself to Rutledge,” says the response.
Their communications remained the same following the sale of her house, the response to the suit says. “Specifically, J.K. continued sending suggestive messages and often sought to, and in fact did, engage, Rutledge and Rogers, in social settings,” it says.
J.K. asked to join them for drinks in the summer of 2018, says the response. They met her outside her apartment building in downtown Victoria. All three went to the office and drank in the main boardroom.
“There was no discussion of a document that required execution or transmission for any purpose. The sole purpose of attending at the office was to stop for alcoholic beverages,” says the response.
They deny drugging her drink and deny “the particulars of the alleged sexual assault,” says the response.
The parties continued to socialize and communicate for many months after drinking at the office, the response says. The woman regularly “liked” their social media posts. She also asked Rutledge if there was a possibility of a romantic relationship between them after the evening at the office, says the response.
J. K. asked Rogers if he and the “missus” were around the weekend of Aug. 30, 2019, says the response. She also invited them to join her downtown in the fall of 2020. On Jan. 28, 2021, she texted Rutledge asking for information on potential oceanfront vacation rentals.
When the allegations of sexual assault against Rutledge and Rogers surfaced in February 2021, they were working for a different brokerage, The Agency, a luxury real estate and lifestyle company. Their employment was immediately terminated by The Agency. The Real Estate Council of B.C. has revoked their licences.
“We have just become aware that our firm has been named in a civil lawsuit related to disturbing allegations involving two former independent contractors. We will act on the advice of legal counsel and address these concerns through the court system once we receive more information,” Scott Piercy, owner of Engel & Volkers Vancouver Island, said in a statement in early October.
“We remain a dedicated, professional and ethical team of licensed advisors and these allegations do not represent who we are. Any form of sexual misconduct is wholly unacceptable and will not be tolerated within our industry or our community.”
ldickson@timescolonist.com
