Leo Burnett Sydney in new sexism scandal after staff member stoush with contractor

LAST week a Sydney ad agency denied it was encouraging sexism by employing an all male new team. Then things got a whole lot worse.

Peter Bosilkovski

THE Australian advertising agency embroiled in accusations of sexism has found itself at the centre of a fresh storm following claims it tried to sack a contractor for discussing the issue.

Last week, Leo Burnett Sydney, whose non-executive chairman is Todd Sampson, a panellist of ABC’s Gruen, was slammed for unveiling a slew of high profile new “creatives” — all of them white men.

Prominent British equality campaigner and advertising guru Cindy Gallop took to Twitter to lash out at the ad agency for congratulating itself on its new team.

“It’s 2015,” wrote Ms Gallop, “What the f*** were you thinking?” And she didn’t stop there, continuing to rebuke the ad agency on the social media platform commenting “[Leo Burnett — It] isn’t an anomaly — it’s the norm and that’s what has got people so riled up.”

At the time, Leo Burnett Sydney chief executive Peter Bosilkovski, said “none of these people were hired because of their specific gender, race or nationality — they were hired because they were the best“.

Peter Bosilkovski, head of advertising agency Leo Burnett Sydney. Pic — Britta Campion

However, claims have now emerged a staff member at the agency threatened a freelancer that she would not be hired because she shared a news story about the incident on social media.

An employee of Leo Burnett wrote on the contractor’s Facebook page, “We almost called you about some work today. But since you bad mouthed us without any knowledge of the female quota in the agency, we will think again. #burnthosebridges”.

The owner of the Facebook page hit back saying, “That’s an outrageous thing to say. If there’s been a misinterpretation, please correct the record.”

The stoush was reported on by website Mumbrella which said it chose not to reveal the identity of either person. The post has since been removed.

A number of other people joined the discussion, reportedly asking the ad agency employee to point out the mistakes in the article. “There’s nothing to correct. That’s my point!” was the reply.

In a statement to news.com.au today, Mr Bosilkovski said the agency was at the, “centre of a conversation,” about sexism in the industry.

“Understandably, this has also created a large emotional response,” he said. “The recent posts on social media are emotional responses by one employee, and do not reflect the views of management of the company, or a company policy of any kind.

“We have spoken to both our employee and the contractor regarding this issue to resolve it,” he said.

However, the contractor has told news.com.au that she had not spoken to anyone at the agency since the issue erupted. “Someone rang and left a message. I see no point to call them back,” she said.

Last week Mr Bosilkovski said half the agency’s staff were women as were 45 per cent of the Sydney management team.

Originally published as Leo Burnett Sydney in new sexism scandal after staff member stoush with contractor