A top executive at Vice Media who had been suspended over sexual misconduct allegations has left the company.
In an email to staff on Tuesday, Vice COO and CFO Sarah Broderick said that Mike Germano, the company’s chief digital officer, will not be returning.
Germano, along with company president Andrew Creighton, were both put on leave at the beginning of the month following a New York Times story that included allegations against them.
The Times spoke to two women who accused Germano of inappropriate behavior. One claimed that Germano told her he didn’t want to hire her because he wanted to have sex with her; the other said he pulled her on his lap at a work event in a bar.
Germano, who founded Vice’s digital advertising agency Carrot Creative, did not respond to a request for comment. He told the Times in a statement that he apologized for the incident at the bar, which he was “resolved with the help of HR.”
The Times story provided details on four settlements over allegations of sexual harassment or defamation against Vice employees, including one involving Creighton. In that settlement, which was reached in 2016, an ex-employee was paid $135,000 after claiming that she was fired after rejecting a relationship with Creighton, although Vice denied the allegations and said she had been ousted for poor performance.
Broderick did not address Creighton’s status in her email, which was obtained by CNNMoney. A Vice spokesman said the investigation into Creighton is “still ongoing.”
In her email Tuesday, Broderick said that Vice’s creative agency, Virtue Worldwide, is “finalizing the long planned integration” of Carrot.