Ousting an Accused Harasser Wasn’t Enough. Ad Agency Staff Wanted to Know Why
Amid a national movement to root out sexual harassment in the workplace, the Martin Agency’s situation highlights the potential backlash that can await companies that try to remove alleged harassers without giving an accounting of their alleged misconduct. Such abrupt exits can leave employees feeling their employers have failed to police wrongdoing.
.. Advertising has long had a reputation as an industry where sexual harassment is rampant.
.. Still, the Martin Agency controversy has created shock waves—in part because the firm, known for crafting slogans like “Virginia is for Lovers” and characters like the Geico Gecko, was widely understood to be a collegial place to work with a family-like culture.
“If it can happen at the Martin agency, then Lord knows, it happens everywhere else,”