Happy mcgarrybowen's Kartik Iyer and Praveen Das named in harassment plaint

Dentsu Aegis Network has initiated an enquiry into the allegations.

Allegations of sexual harrasment and misconduct surfaced against admen Kartik Iyer and Praveen Das on a Twitter post by writer and journalist Sandhya Menon on October 10. The tweets include complaints by anonymous women claiming to be ex-employees of Happy, a Bangalore based independent ad agency founded by Iyer and Das. The agency was later acquired by Dentsu Aegis Network in October, 2016. Sources at Dentsu said, both Das and Iyer are on leave at the moment and an investigation is underway.

Four women at Happy (an ad firm in Bangalore) on email.

Vile vile. pic.twitter.com/gkLA1F5ZOT

— Sandhya Menon (@TheRestlessQuil) October 10, 2018

More stories from HappyMGB pic.twitter.com/kVZhaoavnn

— Sandhya Menon (@TheRestlessQuil) October 11, 2018

Apparently, prompted by these complaints, Dentsu released a statement saying, "Dentsu Aegis Network has always believed in providing a safe environment at our workplaces which is free from any kind of harassments. We have an internal committee constituted as per the rules prescribed under Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 to look into any complaints in this regard. Certain incidents have just come to our notice involving senior members of Happy that allegedly took place few years ago, when Happy was not a part of DAN. An enquiry into these alleged incidents has already been initiated. Dentsu Aegis Network does not and WILL NOT accept anything but professional behaviour at our workplaces. We have a zero tolerance policy towards any kind of harassment at our workplaces and we are committed to speedy redressal of any complaints raised in this context after following due process, as advised by the internal committee."

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