Newsweek Reinstates Editor After Harassment Investigation

Newsweek Media Group’s chief content officer has been reinstated by the company following an inquiry into sexual harassment allegations at his previous employer, according to a memo obtained by Splinter.

Dayan Candappa had been placed on leave in late January after BuzzFeed reported that he had been fired in early 2016 by his previous employer, Reuters, after a co-worker complained that he had repeatedly sexually harassed her. (He moved to Newsweek Media Group a few months later.)

Leiann Kaytmaz, the company’s vice president of HR, told staff in a brief email on Friday that Candappa had been reinstated after a “thorough investigation” by the law firm Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe:

Following a thorough investigation by Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, Dayan Candappa will be returning to his role as Chief Content Officer on Monday February 12th 2018. Orrick, an independent external law firm, did not find evidence to substantiate the reported allegations of sexual harassment during his tenure with his previous employer. Additionally, the investigation found that Mr. Candappa has conducted himself in a professional manner at Newsweek Media Group.

The news comes after weeks of unrelated turmoil at the company. Investigators for the Manhattan District Attorney raided the publication’s offices in mid-January, and its chairman and financial director stepped down soon after. On Monday, Newsweek’s top two editors and a senior reporter were abruptly fired in what current employees believe was retaliation for reporting on its parent company’s legal and financial woes. More than a half-dozen additional staffers have since resigned from the magazine and its sister publication, The International Business Times, in protest.

One Newsweek staffer summed up the dysfunction to Splinter on Friday: “It’s just beyond my scope of comprehension.”