Bob Goldberg, CEO of the Chicago-based National Association of Realtors, resigned Thursday, more than a year before his expected departure.

The announcement follows reported allegations of sexual harassment at NAR, which led to the resignation of former NAR President Kenny Parcell and staff members calling for executives including Goldberg to resign in September.

It also comes days after a federal jury in Missouri ruled NAR and several large real estate brokerages would have to pay $1.8 billion in damages after finding they conspired to artificially inflate the commissions of real estate agents, a decision that could significantly change the business of home buying and selling. NAR has said it plans to appeal the case.

Goldberg announced in June that he would retire at the end of 2024, having served as CEO since 2017. NAR is the nation’s largest trade association and has more than 1.5 million members.

“After announcing my decision to retire earlier this year, and as I reflected on my 30 years at NAR, I determined last month that now is the right time for this extraordinary organization to look to the future,” Goldberg said in a news release announcing the leadership changes.

Mantill Williams, the association’s vice president of communications, told the Tribune in a phone interview Thursday that Goldberg’s resignation was planned prior to the court ruling on Tuesday and did not have to do with the harassment allegations against Parcell.

Nykia Wright, former CEO of the Chicago Sun-Times, has been appointed as the interim CEO of the organization while the association continues its search for a permanent replacement.

Wright stepped down in January following the newspaper’s merger with public radio station WBEZ-FM 91.5 and transformation into a nonprofit under Chicago Public Media. Wright started as chief operating officer at the Sun-Times in 2017 and was named CEO the following year.

NAR President Tracy Kasper said the organization is “delighted” to have Wright as the interim CEO and highlighted Goldberg’s time at the association.

“We are immensely grateful for Bob’s leadership and decades-long service to NAR,” Kasper said. “It has been a privilege to work with him in expanding and strengthening our organization, and we congratulate him on his well-deserved retirement. His contributions to our association and our industry have been tremendous.”

In September, Goldberg said in an email to staff that NAR would hire outside law firms in response to complaints from its staff and members about a bad workplace environment that includes and enables harassment.

A new member task force plans to work with attorneys to conduct an independent assessment of company policies and practices and make recommendations “to improve our procedures, trainings, and systems to prevent inappropriate behavior, encourage reporting of alleged misconduct, and promote an environment of transparency and accountability,” according to Goldberg’s email.

The email said outside counsel would independently investigate harassment, discrimination, or misconduct complaints and bring those findings back to a new member committee. Employees would have a new system to report workplace complaints to an independent investigator, according to the email.

The NAR Accountability Project had called for Goldberg’s resignation, in addition to some of the steps the association announced in September. The group was founded by real estate agent Jason Haber to bring members of the association together to demand change within the organization after the initial New York Times reporting on Parcell’s alleged sexual harassment.

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