RICHMOND, Va. -- A yearslong lawsuit from a former Martin Agency executive that was scheduled to go to trial this week has come to a halt, though the legal battle may not be over.
Last month, more than four years after the original suit was filed, a Richmond Circuit judge nonsuited the case brought by Joe Alexander, who claimed he was the victim of a conspiracy to tarnish his reputation after he parted ways with Martin in late 2017 amid sexual harassment claims made against him within the agency.
Alexander, the agency’s top creative executive at the time, argued in his initial $50 million claim that Martin and other defendants leaked the terms of a confidential 2013 settlement agreement stemming from a previous harassment accusation and disclosed personnel files as part of a #MeToo campaign against Alexander.
Originally consisting of nine claims against different groupings of defendants, the case had been stripped down and amended over the years, with all but one of the claims against Martin and parent company Interpublic Group dismissed. The remaining claim against them – breach of contract – was one of three that made up an amended complaint, which sought the same amount in compensatory damages.
