Commentary

Is There A Cancer Growing Inside The Culture At The Martin Agency?

More details surfaced Thursday in the Joe Alexander sex-harassment case at The Martin Agency, with Adweek reporting that some incidents of “H.R.” Joe hitting on women at the shop go back to the 1990s.

Per the Adweek report, many of the incidents were casually dismissed by management. Some who made complaints were told to work out any issues directly with Alexander, the alleged harasser.

One former staffer went directly to former agency president Mike Hughes and he responded with an “OK.” A short time later, the staffer was laid off.

Wow, sounds like the culture at The Martin Agency is malignant. Maybe it’s time for some radical surgery at the top management ranks if this kind of harassment pattern can go unchecked for so long.

In 2016, another Interpublic shop, Campbell Ewald, went through an ordeal involving a creative staffer using racial slurs distributed in a memo internally. Not only was the perpetrator dismissed, but IPG, led by CEO Michael Roth, booted the president of the agency for not being on top of the situation and dealing with it quickly.

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After a week of foot dragging and stonewalling, The Martin Agency CEO Matt Williams and president Beth Riley-Kelley issued a memo to staffers late Thursday, which was reported by Ad Age.

“The past year has revealed some painful but important truths about workplaces all over America. It's clear that the environment women have too often silently endured is one nobody should have to tolerate,” the memo began.

“Now it's happened here. We're deeply sorry that any of you ever felt unsafe or unheard.” Now? Folks, it’s been going on for decades, at your shop and almost assuredly others.

While Alexander has denied the accusations, Williams and Riley-Kelley wrote: “The behavior that Martin's former CCO, Joe Alexander, is accused of is inexcusable. That's why the only alternative was for him to leave The Martin Agency. That decision was ours.”

The whole sordid affair has been a “painful wake-up call,” the executives wrote, with promises to implement change--the usual  array of reviews, meetings and training that some assert is largely ineffectual.

Now that you’re awake folks, think how painful it’s been for those who have been harassed at the agency.

Maybe part of the solution should be management change at the top. A fresh pair of eyes or two. You know, managers who haven’t been around for as long as staffers complaining about the behavior of “H.R.” Joe. Complaints that for years fell on deaf ears.

 

 

1 comment about "Is There A Cancer Growing Inside The Culture At The Martin Agency?".
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  1. Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, December 8, 2017 at 10:15 a.m.

    In my experience this is a fundamental problem and is hardly new. One reason why nothing gets done about it ---as I saw first hand---is when one of the primary culprits is the agency president, himself.

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