Their ‘Vice’ gets execs put on ice
VICE HAS suspended two top executives after several reports alleged sexual misconduct at the digital media company.
Vice Media put its president, Andrew Creighton, and chief digital officer, Mike Germano, on leave as it investigates allegations against them, according to a company memo sent to employees Tuesday. A Vice spokesman declined to comment.
The leadership change comes a little over one week after more than 100 employees detailed stories to The New York Times revealing a “toxic environment” at the company.
Vice employees claimed sexual harassment and gender discrimination is rampant in the office — and that the company has doled out four settlements involving sexual harassment and defamation allegations.
In 2016, Creighton, 45, was accuesed of firing a staffer — and then paying her $135,000 — after she denied his request for an intimate relationship.
Germano faces several allegations, including that he allegedly told a woman in 2012 he couldn’t hire her because he wanted to sleep with her. Two years later, he allegedly pulled another woman onto his lap at a bar.
The company memo said Vice will require mandatory sexual harassment training starting later this month and that they are “committed” to having women “at every level across the organization” by 2020. Pay parity would come by the end of this year, according to the letter.