Chairman of advertising giant uses constant racist, sexist slurs, female executive claims in lawsuit
PUBLISHED : Friday, 11 March, 2016, 10:22am
UPDATED : Friday, 11 March, 2016, 10:22am
Reuters
Gustavo Martinez, chairman of advertising firm J. Walter Thompson, is alleged to havetold a female executive in front of other workers that she should approach him “so I can rape you in the bathroom”. Photo: J. Walter Thompson
The chairman of advertising giant J. Walter Thompson makes “constant racist and sexist slurs” that demean women, blacks and Jews, and the agency has retaliated against a top female executive for complaining about his “abusive” behaviour, a lawsuit claims.
In a complaint filed on Thursday in Manhattan federal court, JWT Chief Communications Officer Erin Johnson said Gustavo Martinez, the agency’s worldwide chairman and chief executive officer since January 2015, “has no hesitation” making offensive comments, even to senior JWT executives and the media.
J. Walter Thompson, its British-based parent WPP Plc and Martinez were named as defendants. Requests for comment on their behalf were not immediately returned. Johnson’s lawyers did not immediately respond to similar requests.
According to its website, JWT’s clients include such well-known companies as Coca-Cola, HSBC, Johnson & Johnson, Nestle, Shell and Wal-Mart.
The website notes Argentina-born Martinez is the first Hispanic CEO of a global advertising agency, and is a “truly ‘global citizen’” who was raised mainly in Spain, has worked around the globe and is fluent in five languages.
According to the lawsuit, Johnson joined JWT in 2005. But after Martinez took over, she has found it “virtually impossible” to present the agency in a positive light given his behaviour.
The lawsuit said Martinez has made “numerous” comments about rape, once saying in front of other workers that Johnson should approach him “so I can rape you in the bathroom”, and has complained about women he deemed “too sensitive” or “too bossy.”
Martinez was also accused in the lawsuit of once calling some airport customs agents “black monkeys” and “apes”, and complaining about “too many” Jews in Westchester, the suburban New York county where he lives.
Johnson also claimed in the lawsuit that Martinez has touched her inappropriately, and on two occasions bit into an apple she was eating before returning the apple to her.
The lawsuit said JWT responded to Johnson’s repeated complaints by reducing her pay and responsibilities, before putting her on paid leave last month.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified back pay, punitive damages and other remedies.
