A legal filing by a former WPP executive claims an independent investigation by one of WPP’s largest global clients, Sony, corroborates his allegations of illegal business practices by the holding group and its media-buying arm, GroupM (now WPP Media).
Lawyers for the claimant, Richard Foster, the former global chief executive of WPP’s Motion Content Group, write that GroupM and WPP “knowingly benefited from practices that violated their legal obligations to their clients and violated the law”, asserting that “when those practices came under scrutiny from advertisers, [they] did not abandon them. Instead, they obscured them while preserving the underlying business model and illegal practices.”
Foster, who claims he challenged such practices internally for nearly a decade, says he was “marginalised, ostracised, and eventually forced out” for doing so. He is suing for wrongful termination and retaliation.
Foster is seeking punitive damages of at least $100m from WPP, as well as compensatory damages and statutory and civil penalties for the holding group.
The latest legal filing, an amended complaint, came ahead of a hearing on WPP’s motion to dismiss the case. A spokesperson for WPP told The Media Leader: “This amended complaint, filed just prior to the hearing, is an attempt to avoid its dismissal. Both complaints are baseless and without merit, and WPP will be re-filing an updated motion to dismiss. We have confidence that this matter will be resolved through due legal...
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