Steve Biegel and Dentsu settle

So, looks like what I was hearing last week about Steve Biegel and Dentsu settling was right. Just got a copy of this statement, entitled "Joint Written Statement Regarding the Settlement":

"Today Steve Biegel settled his lawsuit against Dentsu Holdings USA, Inc., Dentsu America, Inc., Toyo Shigeta [at the time the suit was filed CEO, Dentsu Holdings USA], and Timothy Andree [then Dentsu America CEO]. Together the parties are issuing this joint statement regarding the resolution of this dispute. Other than this joint statement, the parties will not comment further about this case or its settlement.

Steve Biegel worked as Senior Vice President, Creative Director for Dentsu, from May 1, 2003 to November 17, 2006. His termination was not performance based, in fact, Toyo Shigeta was generally satisfied with Biegel's performance on behalf of Dentsu's clients.

Certain allegations and public statements were made by all parties in connection with this litigation. Biegel brought claims for discrimination, harassment and retaliation, and Dentsu threatened to bring counterclaims for defamation and fraud which were never asserted. As a result of this settlement, those allegations and claims have been dismissed, including any potential counterclaims that have not been asserted by Dentsu. Both parties retract all public statements.

Any other terms of the settlement shall remain confidential, and the parties have agreed not to disclose anything further regarding this case or its settlement. Through this settlement, both parties wish to put the dispute behind them and move on to successful future endeavors."

I may have more to say on this later, but one part of this statement, in particular, stands out: that Dentsu has now gone back on its claims that Biegel's firing was performance-based, which, if not an admission of guilt, at least begs the question of why someone would be fired if it weren't for performance. The settlement seems to fly in the face of this choice quote from Tim Andree: "If Steve Biegel had exhibited as much creativity and effort when he worked here as he has on manufacturing this frivolous complaint, the company would not have fired him. When I was hired at Dentsu, I insisted on having a mandate to make all hiring and firing decisions. Toyo Shigeta had nothing to do with the decision to fire Biegel. . . . We've told him from the outset that if he felt he had a case, he should file it. It took him a year . . . Now we will file ours."

Far as I can tell, Dentsu never filed a thing.

Dentsu's Wikipedia entry: just facts, no sex

It's been awhile since I continued my series on agency Wikipedia entries, so—it being what appears to be a slow news day—here's a look at the one from Dentsu. (Last one was Crispin ... I'm going in more-or-less alphabetical order). In short, it manages to turn the world's largest agency (actually it calls it "one of the largest agency brands in the world" which is a bit of an understatement) sound really boring. Except for the 48-floor Dentsu building in Tokyo, which, the Wikipedia entry explains, "is the eleventh-tallest building in Tokyo ... designed by Jean Nouvel, the French architect." But if you're looking for who Dentsu's clients are, or whether any one at the company has been to a Czech brothel, don't look here.

More from 'Adweek' on Dentsu suit

Sorry not to post at all on Wednesday, but, hey, sometimes actual paying gigs intrude. OK, so now that I'm scanning the headlines, no real surprise that Adweek waited until Dentsu filed a few more court documents to cover the Steve Biegel vs. Dentsu suit again.

Biegel vs. Dentsu coverage continues to perplex

Ever since the phrase "Czech brothel" has become, in the ad industry, synonymous with a certain ad agency, I've been perplexed about the, um, variations in coverage of Steve Biegel vs. Dentsu, and today's developments have me scratching my head again. Last week, Adweek covered the presiding judge in the case's decision not to dismiss the case by back-burnering that issue—which seemingly would be a mark in the loss column for Dentsu—and stressing that Biegel had to provide more information to the judge. Now, Biegel met Thursday's deadline for providing additional information, and Adweek hasn't covered it at all, while Ad Age has. Maybe there's some reason I'm not seeing for Adweek not to make it a priority, I dunno. But if a publication is going to build a story aroiund a judge's request that a plaintiff provide more evidence for a case, you'd think it would be obligated to follow up when that plaintiff delivers said evidence.

Some more thoughts on Biegel vs. Dentsu

Had to spend most of yesterday concerned with working for people who pay me, so only now have I gotten to read and digest the complaint in Biegel vs. Dentsu, not to mention posting of the now-infamous crotch shot. Of course, none of us, except for the plaintiff Steve Biegel and the defendant, Toyo Shigeta, were there in every instance, but here are a few things I keep coming back to: why would someone file a suit of this salacious magnitude unless he--and his lawyer--felt they had a very strong case? Particularly a man suing for sexual harassment, a situation pretty much guaranteed to garner a lot of headlines? Another thing it's hard to escape: having now read the complaint from cover-to-cover, is the level of detail, which no doubt fed into why Biegel feels he has a strong case. One thing you learn after reporting a lot of stories: talk is cheap, but details are, well, priceless. Yes, there are two sides to every story, but the side with the most detail generally is the most accurate. Even if the photographer behind (beneath?) the Sharapova crotch shot is hard to prove, there also seem to be, by Biegel's account, a lot of witnesses: Ron Rosen, Neal Gomberg, Scott Weitz, Doug Fidoten. Dentsu is saying that Biegel, and partner Ron Rosen, were let go in the aftermath of the hiring of Tim Andree, as part of a typical purge following the appointment of new management. Maybe that will make it harder to prove there was wrongful termination since that so often happens, but Biegel also outlines how Shigeta shunned him and threatened him when he told Shigeta that he almost complained to human resources about Shigeta's behavior. Shigeta, the suit says, tells Biegel, "If [Biegel] ever did register such a complaint with human resources, defendant Shigeta would see to it that he would be fired." After that, the suit says, Shigeta ignored him. The timing of all this, of course, couldn't be worse for Dentsu. Having been so secretive in the U.S. for so many years, the agency seemed to be holding a coming-out party of sorts recently, with a cover story in Adweek, and, then, last week, with the purchase of the well-regarded Attik. Now, with this suit charging sexual harassment with cultural differences being used as a cover, the mysteries of Dentsu only deepen.

Looks like Dentsu has skeletons in the Attik

Just when it looked like Dentsu was joining the ranks of agencies that were viewed less for their nationality than for their advertising acumen, Steve Biegel, a former New York creative director at the agency, has sued it for sexual harassment. But this suit probably isn't what you're thinking. Biegel, in a suit that was filed—somehow befittingly—on Halloween, says that his male Japanese boss, Toyo Shigeta, the head of Dentsu Holdings USA, forced him into visiting brothels, distributed lewd pictures of, among other females, tennis star Maria Sharapova (specifically of her crotch), which Shigeta took on a Canon shoot in October 2004 and also insisted that Biegel and others hang out nude in a hot tub with him, which, the suit says, left Biegel "offended and humiliated by this outrageous, sexually degrading experience imposed on him as a condition of his employment." Biegel, after complaining, was fired in November 2006, roughly six months after the bath-house incident. Dentsu so far is only saying that they haven't seen the suit. But there's a lot more to this story—among other things, the crotch-shot of Sharapova has been entered into evidence. Trust me. There's much more to come. UPDATE: Dentsu has since released a statement, which I found on Ad Age's Web site: "Steve Biegel is a former employee who was terminated almost a year ago. When Dentsu refused to yield to Mr. Biegel's unreasonable demands, he made outrageous allegations which the company has refuted. He has now filed a claim to obtain money to which he is not entitled, for incidents he alleges took place over three years ago and which he never complained about while an employee of Dentsu. The company intends to counterclaim that Mr. Biegel has libeled Dentsu and defrauded the company. We look forward to the opportunity to vindicate our company in court."
MORE UPDATE: I talked to Andy Dwyer, the lawyer for Steve Biegel, who says that Biegel did complain while employed at Dentsu, to both Toyo Shigeta and Ron Rosen, who was Biegel's boss. In addition, Dwyer said that Rosen has confirmed that Biegel complained to him. A Dentsu spokesperson said, "I know nothing about Rosen at all," and, concerning the picture of Maria Sharapova, said, "We expect that Maria's agent will weigh in on this in support of Dentsu."