Mediacom files court documents which claim Rob Moore’s redundancy was due to a restructure, not his mental health
WPP’s media agency Mediacom has denied it made former executive Rob Moore redundant because he disclosed a diagnosis of depression to CEO Willie Pang.
Instead, Moore’s redundancy was “bona fide” and part of a broader restructure, the agency claims in further documents filed with the Federal Circuit Court,
Rob Moore told Mediacom CEO Willie Pang that he was living with depression last year
“The decision to make a number of employees redundant, including the applicant [Moore], was made following a restructure of the respondent‘s Melbourne team,” the document reads.
“The applicant was not selected for redundancy because of a mental disability or otherwise discriminated against because of a disability.”
Moore commenced a general protections claim in court last month, claiming that he was made redundant because he told Pang of his mental health condition and requested a reduced workload. The former exec is seeking reinstatement alleging that the redundancy was not genuine because the new managing director position, filled by former Publicis chief client officer Carl Colman, is the same as his redundant general manager position except for the remuneration and position title. Mediacom opposes the reinstatement.
In addition to reinstatement, Moore is seeking compensation, costs, and a fine to be handed down against Mediacom. The agency opposes each of these remedies.
On 13 August, Registrar David Ryan cancelled the directions hearing that was scheduled to take place the next day. The matter will be set down for mediation when Moore files a statement of claim, due on 4 September, and Mediacom files its defence, due on 2 October.
Moore’s case is one of two general protections claims facing WPP at the moment. Former Team Red managing director Carmel Williamson is also fighting the holding group in court, alleging she was dismissed and needed psychological treatment due to a “boys club” culture and a lack of support. Williamson’s case is set down for a further directions hearing on 16 October, and mediation is expected to be completed by 13 September.
Team Red is a bespoke agency set up within WPP to handle the Vodafone account.
Last week, WPP reported that its revenue fell by 15.3% to $22.6m, and it wrote down the value of its agency brands by $270m.
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Well, you’d hope those job descriptions were sufficiently different. Both the one used to brief the executive recruiter and the one that the new MD signed on to.
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Wouldn’t it just be easier to prove that [Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy]
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The reason the comments are getting filtered and deleted is a subject of shame to the editor.
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Hi there ‘Concern’,
I am the editor, and I don’t have any shame here. Would you like to make your allegations against me a bit more specific? I am more than happy to publish them, as I am not currently before the courts.
Yours is the only unapproved comment on this article, and it’s about to be published. Nothing has been deleted. One of the two comments here was edited in line with our comment moderation policy. I’m not ashamed of it. This article relates to a matter before the courts, and someone’s mental health. Read up on our country’s defamation and contempt of court laws, and publish what you like on your own platforms.
Thanks for your ‘Concern’,
Vivienne – Mumbrella
Dear editor, since the article was posted, there were comments which have been removed. I don’t understand why will someone do that. Is it that you have got pressurised by (a company) to remove it??
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Hi ‘Concern’,
To re-iterate: no comments have been deleted/ removed/ hidden from this article. One, by someone naming themselves ‘Ex-client’, has been edited in line with our comment moderation policy, and this is flagged as such. Showing what we have edited, rather than hiding it, makes the process transparent.
We have not been pressured (or pressurised) to remove anything.
If there’s a comment you’d like to make, please feel free to do so. It will be moderated, and perhaps edited, in line with our policy, and then you should see it online.
Thanks,
Vivienne – Mumbrella
The boys’ club. That’s definitely real and it’s disgusting.
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