• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, July 26, 2018

MDC Partners and its agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky asked the U.S. District Court in Colorado yesterday to toss the $20 million dollar lawsuit filed against the firms in June by former Crispin chief creative officer Ralph Watson.

Watson sued for wrongful termination, defamation and other charges after he was fired in February.

The termination came after he was anonymously outed in January on the Diet Madison Avenue social media site for undisclosed sexual harassment against multiple women over the course of his career.

Watson denied all wrongdoing, but the agency let him go “for cause” after an investigation into allegations made against him. The agency has declined to provide details.

But in its petition to have the case dismissed, the company stood by its decision to boot Watson for cause. And it asserted: “CP+B’s refusal to compromise the confidentiality of its investigation process by publicly revealing the identities of those who participated in it,” did not constitute grounds for any of Watson’s charges.

More broadly, the firms argued that Watson forfeited his right to litigate any of the charges mentioned in his suit because he agreed to an arbitration clause in his 2014 employment agreement.

Your move, Watson.