Bombshell investigation finds Vice and its employees paid at least US$184,000 to settle four sexual misconduct claims
Many former employees say unwanted kissing and groping, lewd comments, and sexual propositions were commonplace
By Brennan Weiss and Sonam Sheth
Dozens of current and former employees at the edgy news and entertainment media company Vice are speaking out against what they characterise as a toxic culture of sexual misconduct at the company that was enabled over the years by top executives, The New York Times reported.
Since 2003, Vice and its employees have paid at least US$184,000 in settlements to four women, none of whom still work for the company, who accused executives of sexual misconduct or defamation, according to the report.
In one of the settlements, Vice president Andrew Creighton doled out US$135,000 to a former employee who claimed she was fired after rebuffing his sexual advances during work meetings from 2013 to 2015. The settlement was reportedly reached in 2016. Vice denied the woman’s allegations and said she was fired based on poor performance.
In another instance, former employee Martina Veltroni claimed that Jason Mojica, the former head of Vice News, derailed her career after she engaged in a sexual relationship with him. Mojica said the relationship was consensual and that he never retaliated against her. He was fired last month, after The Daily Beast reported on his alleged misconduct in the workplace. Vice and Veltroni reportedly reached an undisclosed settlement.
“There is a toxic environment where men can say the most disgusting things, joke about sex openly, and overall a toxic environment where women are treated far inferior than men,” Sandra Miller, a former Vice employee, told the Times.