Headcount at the world’s largest real estate brokerage is shrinking, and two lawsuits claiming sexual assaults inside the company may offer clues as to why

eXp Realty was a real-estate juggernaut that swelled to more than 80,000 agents based on a revenue-share plan that paid each staffer for bringing in new agents. But a short-seller tells Fortune he believes the company is a multi-level marketing operation—and three academics told Fortune they…