"Cautious" CoStar Puts ex-Realtor.com Editor on Leave Amid Ongoing Lawsuit

CoStar has placed ex-Realtor.com employee James Kaminsky on leave while the Group deals with ongoing legal disputes with its rival portal.

Kaminsky served as the editor of News and Insights at Realtor.com before being laid off in January this year, joining CoStar two months later.

His former employee alleges that Kaminsky accessed three key, sensitive documents and shared them with CoStar, filing a lawsuit a fortnight ago.

Last week, Move Inc. (the owner of Realtor.com) filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against CoStar and Kaminsky from "any further unauthorized access" to files that the firm says unfairly accelerated Homes.com's growth.

Now CoStar has placed Kaminsky on administrative leave "out of an abundance of caution" while the dispute rages on.

Court documents read:

Mr. Kaminsky does not have any strategic role or input at CoStar beyond the localized content he and his team are generating regarding the New York condominium market.

CoStar has a wholly separate residential real estate data and information team, which is run by a different editor.

Out of an abundance of caution, CoStar has also placed Mr. Kaminsky on administrative leave through the continued hearing date so that he can focus on the defense of this case and to further eliminate any credible claim of imminent or irreparable harm during any continuance the Court may grant.

Yesterday, CoStar released its Q2 financial results for 2024, including 12% revenue growth year-on-year.