WPP Prevails in Fight Against Woman With Multiple Sclerosis
You young' uns won't remember Bates Advertising or AC&R, but for admen and women of a certain age, the story of former Bates svp Kathryn Jordan, a planner, will ring a bell. After 13 years of litigation, WPP has won a ruling that says it was OK to lay off Jordan even though she had multiple sclerosis and executives at the agency had allegedly referred to her as a "cripple."
Jordan was let go in 1994 when Ted Bates' (pictured) shop merged with AC&R. She used a cane and was asked why in an interview with a supervisor. Hoping to avoid being seen as disabled, she said it was from a skiing accident. Her lawyer claimed that in the office:
She was openly referred to as "a cripple", hazed about her need to use a cane to ambulate, and treated differently by her supervisors than her non disabled peers, including being paid half what non-disabled EVP's were compensated.WPP, which now owns Bates, claimed that as Jordan had not told her managers in the interview that she had MS they did not know she was disabled, and that she was fired for the usual efficiencies and duplications that mergers generate.
Jordan won a $2 million verdict at trial. But WPP fought on, and after years of appeals seems to have finally been vindicated.
Moral: Make sure your bosses know you're disabled if you think they're looking for layoffs.
Ludicrously detailed history of Bates here.