CTPartners denies media claims and sets record straight

US-listed headhunting firm CTPartners has denied media claims about it being rife with sexual discrimination and related issues.
Wed, 18 Feb 2015
US-listed headhunting firm CTPartners has denied media claims about it being rife with sexual discrimination and related issues.

In a UK exclusive, CTPartners has spoken to Recruiter to outline its position.

The claims, as published in the New York Post recently, include that more than one allegation of sexual discrimination was made to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC); a company investor urged the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to investigate the firm regarding disclosure; and that it cancelled a stock offering.

The Post reported in December 2014 that discrimination claims had been lodged with the EEOC, and since 2012 more than 12 such cases were raised internally.

Speaking to Recruiter, CTPartners’ chief marketing officer Derek Creevey acknowledged a case of discrimination was raised by a female employee. However, despite media reports, the firm did not know of any further cases, he said.

He said that complaint was taken “very seriously” and investigated “thoroughly” by the firm’s chief operating officer under guidance from outside counsel.

Due to confidentiality reasons, he could not share the nature of the complaint.

The conclusion of the investigation was that the claim was “without merit” and the employee concerned then left the firm of her own volition, he said.

Following that, she raised the complaint with the EEOC. Creevey reiterated there was only one complaint made to the EEOC. The result of that was that both parties, CTPartners and the woman, agreed to mediation, he said. They are in the process of scheduling the mediation.

Regarding the investor complaint to the SEC, Creevey said the firm “has not received any notification from any investor about any complaint to the SEC”.

The first awareness of any such complaint was the Post’s story of last month [14 January], he said.

The Post reported the investor had asked the regulating body to look into “whether the company withheld vital information regarding a dozen or so sexual harassment complaints around 2012”.

On the report of CTPartners cancelling its recent stock offering, Creevey also said this was incorrect – it was not cancelled, just delayed, “when it became clear we would revise Q4 [and full year 2014] guidance”.

On 28 January, the company issued a statement to say it was revising previously released [21 January] guidance. The guidance was revised because it had emerged spending was higher than previously thought. This stemmed from a US$1.7m (£1.1m) increase in operating expenditure, “primarily due to compensation expense associated with consultant performance bonuses”.

It also withdrew Q1 and full-year 2015 guidance, in which it said it expected to report about $200m in net revenue for 2015. The company expects to re-announce those figures when its financial results are reported on 12 March.

According to Creevey, the stock offering has since ended successfully and raised $5m.

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