WPP goes legal on ex Hill & Knowlton staffers Hutton and MacIntosh
WPP is back in court for another battle with former staff after launching a case against former Hill & Knowlton executives Michelle Hutton and Anna MacIntosh, reports today’s Sydney Morning Herald.
Hutton departed the WPP-owned PR agency in March last year to run rival agency Edelman.
MacIntosh followed Hutton across, moving from director of consumer practice at Hill & Knowlton to director of consumer marketing at Edelman.
As Mumbrella reported last month, Hutton’s successor Marcus Warner lasted just eight months in the role before departing “to explore opportunities”.
According to the SMH, H&K alleges that Hutton and MacIntosh breached contractual obligations relating to clients of their former agency.
Hutton this morning told Mumbrella that she was unable to comment.
The action has echoes of WPP’s long running battle over the purchase of George Patterson and subsequent departure of staffers Anthony Heraghty and James McGrath. The case was eventually ended in late 2009 with a confidential settlement along with an apology to WPP from the pair.