MPRM files suit Against 42West, Alleging Coordinated Employee and Client Poaching
LOS ANGELES, November 17, 2023 – Public relations โฃfirm MPRM has filed a lawsuit against rival agency 42West, accusing it of orchestratingโ a “hostile departure” โof key personnel and the subsequent โคloss of majorโค clients. The suit, filed Friday in California state court, alleges 42West engaged inโ a deliberate effort to dismantle MPRM by poaching employees, clients, and confidential information.
The legal action follows the abrupt exit of โคroughly half of MPRM’s staff last week, including executive vice presidents Sylvia desrochers โand Caitlin McGee. Desrochers and McGee had been โin negotiations to purchase MPRM from president Markโ Pogachefsky, โa transition initiated after the 2022 retirement of cofounder rachel McCallister. Those plans dissolved earlier this year when Pogachefsky received a purchase offerโฃ from the pair, reportedly valuedโ at less than 10โค percent of the company.
According to the lawsuit, Desrochers informed Pogachefsky on Wednesdayโค that she was taking several high-profile clients – including โDisney, National Geographic, โขand NBC โข- to โค42West. MPRM alleges this was partโ of a pre-planned effort to cripple the firm.โ
The complaint details accusations of trade secret theft, including marketing plans,โ client lists with contact information, and detailed customer profiles outliningโ service needs and preferences. “It was apparent that their โคleaving MPRM was hostile, had beenโ in the works for quite some time, โฃand โwould wreakโ havoc โขon MPRM and its existing clients โby depriving it ofโ key personnel,” stated Devin McRae, MPRM’s lawyer, in the complaint.
MPRM isโ seeking unspecified damages and alleging breach of fiduciary duty, misappropriation of tradeโ secrets, and fraudulent concealment. 42West, whichโ boasts aโ client roster including Martin Scorsese, Tom Hanks, and Tom โCruise,โค and recently celebrated the success of its โmarketing campaign โfor โขsony’s Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle (grossing $555 million globally), declined to comment.
The lawsuit echoes similarโข allegations made last year when marketing firm R&CPMK sued 2PM Sharp, accusing it of employing a similar strategy of mass employee departures and client poachingโค to build its business.