Two white male creative directors at a top London advertising agency have won a sex discrimination claim after being made redundant following a diversity conference presentation that pledged to 'obliterate' the firm's 'Mad Men' reputation. Chas Bayfield, 52, and Dave Jenner, 50, were among five men axed from J Walter Thompson (JWT) in November 2018, shortly after the agency reported a median gender pay gap of 44.7%.
The London Central employment tribunal heard that the pay gap figures sent 'shock waves' through the firm, prompting urgent action to address a lack of female representation. At a diversity conference, female creative director Jo Wallace, who introduced herself as a gay woman, gave a joint presentation with executive creative director Lucas Peon, stating: 'One thing we all agree on is that the reputation JWT once earned – as being full of white, British, privileged [men] – has to be obliterated.'
After the conference, Bayfield and Jenner expressed concerns about job security. Bayfield sent an email to his superior saying: 'I found out recently JWT did a talk off site where it vowed to obliterate white, middle-class straight people from its creative department. There are a lot of very worried people down here.' Peon and HR director Emma Hoyle called a meeting with the men, which the tribunal described as hostile, with voices raised and their concerns angrily dismissed.
Within two days of the meeting, the men were made redundant. Employment Judge Mark Emery ruled that the men were treated in a hostile manner amounting to 'victimisation', and that their sex was a factor in the decision to dismiss them. He said: 'This would immediately assist the gender pay gap issue within the creative team, it would rid the team of two creative directors who were, because of their sex, seen as resistant to change.'
The judge noted that a woman in a similar position would not have faced the same backlash. Bayfield and Jenner won claims of sex discrimination, victimisation, harassment and unfair dismissal, but lost claims of age, race and sexual orientation discrimination. They are in line to receive compensation from Wunderman Thompson, the successor to JWT. After the ruling, Bayfield said: 'We were concerned about diversity and female and minority representation. We never opposed it.'
