• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, January 31, 2018

Droga5 chief creative officer Ted Royer is on leave from the agency following allegations against him that prompted the agency to hire an outside firm to conduct an investigation. 

An agency spokesperson confirmed that Royer is on leave, but declined to elaborate. 

Sources confirmed the ongoing investigation. The agency has a policy of putting employees under investigation on leave until there is a resolution in the case. 

The Droga5 case follows the sex harassment scandal at The Martin Agency, which broke in December. In that instance, Chief Creative Officer Joe Alexander was forced out after multiple allegations of sexual harassment against him surfaced. 

The Martin Agency scandal also resulted in a CEO change at the shop. 

To be fair, Droga5 sources insist that its investigation was launched to get to the bottom of the allegations against Royer. The agency is not sure whether the allegations involve sex harassment or discrimination. Hence the official probe. 

So kudos to the agency for taking the allegations seriously. At this point, it’s a “stay tuned” situation.