A top-performing KB Home sales representative in Las Vegas has filed a federal lawsuit alleging her former manager coerced her into years of unwanted sexual activity, and that the homebuilder retaliated against her after she reported it. Stephanie Cherney, who has worked for KB Home in Las Vegas since November 2020, says the ordeal began roughly two months into her job and continued for nearly four years.
Cherney's lawsuit, filed July 22 in U.S. District Court in Nevada, names KB Home and KB Home Sales - Nevada Inc. as defendants and is formally captioned Stephanie Cherney v. KB Home and KB Home Sales - Nevada Inc., Case No. 2:26-cv-02225-JAD-BNW, according to Justia Dockets. As KLAS 8 News Now first reported, Cherney met her manager, identified in the suit as Justin McLeod, on June 24, 2021, at the KB Home community where she worked. The lawsuit alleges McLeod began making sexually suggestive comments about two months after she started her job and made sexual advances by June 2021.
Years of Alleged Coercion at Work
According to the station's report, McLeod allegedly asked Cherney whether she wanted to have sex and how badly she wanted to on a scale of one to ten, and told her about sexual things he would love to do to her — all per the lawsuit. Cherney called McLeod two days after his initial sexual remark, and the suit alleges sexual encounters then occurred approximately once or twice per month starting in June 2021, continuing through February 2025. The encounters reportedly took place at KB Home communities, at work, and during work hours, according to the lawsuit as detailed in the station's coverage.
The suit alleges McLeod continued making sexual comments and pursuing the relationship despite Cherney telling him she was not interested, and that he preferred the encounters occur at work in order to conceal them from his wife. Cherney says she feared that rejecting McLeod would affect her employment, and that she felt pressure to agree to the encounters because she feared for her job, advancement opportunities, and income. She was, per the lawsuit, unable to continue the unwanted and coerced sexual activity and ended it in January 2025; the allegations describe the sexual harassment as continuing through February 2025.
Retaliation Claims and a Stalled Career
Cherney sent a legal-claims letter to KB Home on September 17, 2025, and the lawsuit alleges the company escalated retaliation against her afterward. Per the lawsuit, KB Home assigned her to communities with limited sales opportunities and allegedly prevented her from offering discounts available to other sales representatives, undercutting the earnings potential of a sales representative whose commission depends on those tools.
Cherney also says her colleagues asked her about confidential details from her legal-claims letter and questioned her about an alleged affair with McLeod, raising concerns about how confidential the internal process actually was. She asked KB Home to correct what she says were inaccuracies in her performance review, but the company did not make the requested corrections, and her accounts detailed inconsistencies with that review and with advancement opportunities more broadly, per the station's account. McLeod was fired in mid-November 2025, according to the lawsuit.
Investigation Findings and Company Response
KB Home engaged an independent investigator to look into Cherney's claims, and the investigator concluded her claims were unsubstantiated when the probe wrapped up on January 8. The station reports that the investigator repeatedly asked Cherney whether she climaxed during encounters with McLeod. KB Home subsequently notified Cherney's attorneys that her claims were unsubstantiated.
A KB Home spokesperson said the company takes the allegations seriously and will vigorously defend itself against the lawsuit's allegations, per the station's report. Cherney filed an EEOC charge on December 16, 2025, detailing KB Home discrimination and retaliation claims, before filing her federal lawsuit the following July. She continues to work for KB Home as she pursues the case.
What the Lawsuit Seeks
The federal lawsuit brings claims of sex discrimination, retaliation, and Equal Pay Act violations. Per a PR Newswire release, the suit asserts claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Nevada Fair Employment Practices Act, and the Equal Pay Act, with Cherney represented by Washington, D.C.-based civil rights firm Bernabei & Kabat, PLLC and local counsel Danielle J. Barraza. Cherney is seeking a jury trial, punitive damages, and damages including back pay, front pay, lost benefits, emotional distress damages, and attorney's fees. The lawsuit also seeks new KB Home training and policies on discrimination, retaliation, equal pay laws, and employee protection.
Cherney remains a Lead Area Sales Representative and was officially named one of KB Home's top 10 sales counselors nationwide in Fiscal Year 2024, according to the PR Newswire release — a distinction that underscores the contrast between her performance record and the adverse actions she alleges. U.S. Magistrate Judge Brenda Weksler granted KB Home an extension on August 27 to file its formal response to the lawsuit by October 5, with the builder's defense led by national employment law firm Littler Mendelson, P.C., according to PacerMonitor.
Legal Stakes Under Equal Pay and Anti-Discrimination Law
Under the federal Equal Pay Act of 1963, employees alleging sex-based pay differences are not required to prove intentional discrimination and can be awarded mandatory double liquidated damages unless the employer proves a good-faith defense, according to Pollard PLLC. Separately, under Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 613, the Nevada Equal Rights Commission can impose escalating administrative civil penalties up to $15,000 against employers found to have engaged in willful workplace discrimination, and can award compensatory damages for lost wages or commissions, per the Nevada Association of Employers.
Retaliation claims are the most common type of workplace discrimination complaint nationally, accounting for 47.8% — 42,301 charges — of the 88,531 workplace discrimination filings the EEOC received in Fiscal Year 2024, according to Lehr, Middlebrooks, Vreeland & Thompson. Separately, a national workplace survey found that 21% of U.S. employees report being direct targets of workplace harassment, while EEOC data indicates up to 90% of harassed workers never file formal complaints due to fear of employer retaliation, as reported by Forbes.
A Builder Under Financial and Legal Scrutiny
The lawsuit lands as KB Home faces separate market pressure: the company's stock (NYSE: KBH) logged a 17.29% price decline over the 30 days leading into September 11, and a 27.88% total shareholder return drop over the trailing year, according to Simply Wall St, with market analysts monitoring corporate legal risks alongside quarterly performance ahead of KB Home's Q3 2026 earnings report scheduled for September 22.
KB Home remains one of the largest residential builders in Southern Nevada, actively developing major master-planned communities including the nearly 300-acre, 1,500-home Sandstone development in North Las Vegas and the $46.4 million Skye Summit tract, where sales representatives like Cherney work independently out of decentralized model home offices.
