Vice Media has suspended President Andrew Creighton and Chief Digital Officer Mike Germano following a New York Times report last month that detailed sexual harassment allegations against them. Vice has also committed to attaining a 50-50 ratio of male and female employees “at every level across the organization” by 2020. It set another goal of achieving pay parity by the end of 2018, reports Variety. Times reporter Emily Steel, who wrote the exposé on Vice in December, writes that Creighton paid a former Vice employee $135,000 after she alleged she was fired after rejecting his suggestion they have a romantic relationship in 2016. Vice COO/CFO Sarah Broderick sent a memo to the staff this week, saying the claim against Creighton was reviewed in 2016 by an independent law firm and was “found to lack merit but the company agreed to settle the matter in order to avoid the expense and distraction of litigation.” However, she said that a special committee of Vice’s board is reviewing the matter. Germano is also being investigated by Vice’s HR team with an external investigator. The New York Times reported that more than 20 female employees at Vice were subject to or witnessed other employees experiencing sexual harassment.
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