Acting on allegations of sexual harassment and indecent behaviour against Happy mcgarrybowen CEO Kartik Iyer and CCO PM Praveen Das, Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) has sent both the executives on leave pending investigation. The network has also sent others whose names have surfaced in the allegations on leave.
The investigation was launched immediately after the allegations surfaced.
Update: #MeToo: DAN removes Happy founders Kartik Iyer, Praveen Das and two others
DAN had acquired Bangalore’s creative hotshop Happy Creative Services in October 2016.
When contacted, the DAN spokesperson refused to give any detail and referred to its official statement that said, “Dentsu Aegis Network has always believed in providing a safe environment at our workplaces, which is free from any kind of harassments. We have an internal committee constituted as per the rules prescribed under Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 to look into any complaints in this regard. Certain incidents has just come to our notice involving senior members of Happy that allegedly took place few years ago, when Happy was not a part of DAN. An enquiry into these alleged incidents has already been initiated. Dentsu Aegis Network does not and WILL NOT accept anything but professional behaviour at our workplaces. We have a zero tolerance policy towards any kind of harassment at our workplaces and we are committed to speedy redressal of any complaints raised in this context after following due process, as advised by the internal committee.”
The allegations of harassment and misconduct against Happy founders was made public by writer and journalist Sandhya Menon who took to Twitter on October 10 to disclose an anonymous email from four women.
A day later, Menon revealed more allegations surfacing against Happy founders.
Another allegation was levelled by Swapna Ragini Kammaran Nair who shared one of stories about Iyer on Facebook.
Iyer took to Twitter to deny all the allegations.
Also read: Is it #TimesUp for workplace harassment in Indian M&E industry?
Also read: #MeToo hits Terribly Tiny Tales, Co-Founder Chintan Ruparel quits following harassment allegations
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