Exposing Anti-White Harassment + Discrimination in US Media Companies
FAQs
Saatchi & Saatchi
FAIL
wearesaatchi.com
TYPE: Advertising Agency
INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS: Capital Research and Management Company, BlackRock, The Vanguard Group, Parvus Asset Management Europe Ltd., Mawer Investment Management Ltd., Capital International Ltd., Amundi Asset Management, Janus Henderson Investors UK Ltd., Geode Capital Management, et al. (via parent company Publicis Groupe)
OWNER: Publicis Groupe
SUBSIDIARIES:
REVENUE: $475 million
HEADCOUNT: 6,500
375 Hudson St
New York, NY 10014
+1 212 463 2000
christine.prins@saatchiny.com
Under New York State's Human Rights Law (NYSHRL, § 296), Saatchi & Saatchi's comprehensive DEI* initiatives pose a significant risk of discrimination and harassment against White employees. Publicis Groupe’s DEI framework, which likely governs Saatchi & Saatchi, was created by figures like Carla Serrano (Chief Strategy Officer, an Asian woman), Sandra Sims-Williams (ex-Chief Diversity Officer, North America, a Black woman), Renetta McCann (Publicis Groupe Chief Inclusion Officer, also a Black woman), and until very recently, Geraldine White (Publicis Groupe US Chief Diversity Officer, also a Black woman), who was fired in December of 2024, possibly due to an ongoing legal case around toxic and pervasive anti-White harassment at Saatchi & Saatchi under her DEI leadership. Ronnie Dickerson Stewart, also a Black woman, preceded Geraldine White as Chief Diversity Officer. The female and Black leadership and hiring signals a top-down DEI focus. Saatchi is also a subsidiary of Publicis Groupe. Andrew Swinand, former CEO of Leo Burnett Group and Publicis Groupe Creative and Production U.S., served as the US executive sponsor for DEI. Swinand, in a 2023 group email, stated that his goal was to focus on non-White hiring.
The agency's mandatory anti-bias training program that states that “White People” are a “System of Oppression” that engage in “Racism” risks creating a hostile work environment by promoting a narrative of inherent White culpability and systemic racism. DEI racial equity training could be perceived as harassing White employees under the lens of the EEOC and NYSHRL (§ 296) if it creates a hostile work environment or implicitly targets them based on race. Such training often emphasizes systemic racism, unconscious bias, and the need for racial equity, which may include discussions framing Whites as inherently privileged or complicit in perpetuating inequality. This 'POC versus White' structure fosters a hostile environment for White individuals. Splitting employees into BIPOC versus White groups can be seen as problematic under the NYSHRL, as it creates distinctions based on race, potentially fostering division and disparate treatment. This segregation could be interpreted as a form of discrimination, violating the NYSHRL’s prohibition against creating a hostile work environment or implementing discriminatory employment practices. The establishment of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) based on race (excluding one for White people), gender, and sexual orientation could create segregated spaces and foster unequal treatment. The majority-Black and female Saatchi Diversity Task Force (SDTF) and the Director of Culture and DEI role could lead to discriminatory practices by prioritizing certain demographics over others. The SDTF's holiday shopping guide promoted shopping at non-White owned businesses, a form of segragation and discrimination, implying corporate racial bias. The Saatchi Scholarship Program, which explicitly targets “BIPOC”/non-White students, raises concerns about potential exclusion of White students from similar opportunities. The "Open House" program, while aiming to diversify the talent pool, risks creating preferential treatment for non-traditional aka non-White candidates. Saatchi's Diversity Task Force's annual award program, which provides financial assistance to BIPOC/non-White students, could be interpreted as potentially excluding White students from the opportunity to receive such awards. A lawsuit filed with the New York State Division of Human Rights (Case #10221229) raises questions about potential discriminatory and harassing practices within the agency.
Other examples of Saatchi’s DEI-related activities that could be perceived as racially harassing include:
Susie Nam, Asian woman and DEI champion who as CEO of Publicis Creative US (Saatchi’s parent company) leads with a focus on DEI, views her role as “making circumstances better for women and people of color,” in other words, neglecting White men at work. She has led initiatives like founding D+iQ at Droga5—the agency's diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative—and serving as Vice Chair of ADCOLOR, an organization dedicated to celebrating and promoting “professionals of color” (non-White people) in creative industries. It’s unclear if not supporting White men is Saatchi’s or Publicis Groupe’s official view.
Senior Director of Inclusion and Diversity at Publicis Sapient Tanya Nicosha Dacres, a Black woman, during a multi-day DEI seminar titled Pausing For Action, stated how mandatory DEI training is linked to promotions: “As new hires join, they have this training [Disrupting Everyday Bias] as part of their 90-day learning plan, and it helps to set their behavioural mindset from the start.” She continued: “Having this training [is] a requirement in our promotion panel process. So in order to be a decision-maker in the process, you have to have completed all the Disrupting Everyday Bias modules.” One main slide in the module, titled “Systems of Oppression,” lists “White People” as chief offenders of “Racism,” especially “Cisgender Men.” In short, to work at Publicis, based on those in charge, new employees and old alike have to take classes throughout the year so they can learn and adopt Publicis’ view that White people are racist upholders of oppressive systems. It’s unclear if this is Saatchi’s or Publicis Groupe’s official view.
Terea Shaffer, ex-Publicis DEI advocate and a Black woman (now at TBWA), in a meeting held for Publicis and Saatchi employees, stated that White spaces are dangerous and off-limits to Black people. It’s unclear if this is Saatchi’s or Publicis Groupe’s official view.
Rosalyn James, also a Black woman involved with DEI at Saatchi, puts her DEI demands bluntly: “Bottom line: Each leader has to be accountable for DEI.” It’s unclear if this is Saatchi’s or Publicis Groupe’s official view.
An invited speaker noted that White men are naturally more biased than others. It’s unclear if this is Saatchi’s or Publicis Groupe’s official view.
Dierdra Donahue's group-wide email invited Saatchi employees to partake in the 2022 Lyft Conference, where speaker Ray Arata would talk about "advancing people of color and women" in the workplace. It’s unclear if Saatchi or Publicis Groupe share his view that White men shouldn’t be advanced in the workplace.
Moments before invited guest Elon Musk was presented, Publicis CEO Carla Serrano showed a tweet by speaker Ellen K Pao, alleging Musk supports "white supremacy.” It’s unclear if Saatchi or Publicis Groupe view Musk as a supporter of “white supremacy.”
Geraldine White, in a company-wide video, expressed a sentiment that White people sustain inequities. It’s unclear if this is Saatchi’s or Publicis Groupe’s official view.
“Anti-Racist Apostle” and “Inclusive Leadership Warrior” Dierdra Donahue, a Black woman, as SVP Equity and Inclusion at Publicis Groupe, visited Saatchi to hold a DEI training session, with the main exercise being an elementary-school style fill-in-the-blank worksheet where—as a group—Saatchi & Saatchi employees filled in the missing words. The final message: White people cheated to get to where they are. It’s unclear if this is Saatchi’s or Publicis Groupe’s official view.
Many of Saatchi's/Publicis DEI speakers have harbored explicitly anti-White views on social media. It’s unclear if Saatchi or Publicis Groupe shares the same views.
Rob Davis, an invited DEI event speaker, expressed great zeal for making the workforce less White, stating that it can't happen fast enough. He expressed shame that his childhood was White. It’s unclear if Saatchi or Publicis Groupe share his views that workplaces with White people in them or overly-White childhoods are negative/shameful.
Chioke McRae, a Black man and an invited panelist at a multi-day DEI conference held by SDTF/Saatchi Diversity Task Force, encouraged by hostess Dierdra Donahue, voiced that going back to work “is really going to suck" due to being around so many white people. Immediately after speaking, hostess Donahue vocally noted, “I 100% agree with everything that you say and know that it's true." It’s unclear if this is Saatchi’s or Publicis Groupe’s official view.
In an agency-wide email, Saatchi’s Diversity Task Force (primarily made up of Black women) encouraged Saatchi employees to interact with an interview between anti-White racist Robin DiAngelo and psychotherapist Resmaa Manekem, a Black man. In the provided interview, Manekem, who teaches about “white body supremacy,” stated “When white people get nervous, people lose their jobs. When white people get nervous, people get hung from trees. When white people get nervous, babies get put in cages.” It’s unclear if this is Saatchi’s or Publicis Groupe’s official view.
Saatchi & Saatchi’s DEI team invites in many professional DEI speakers explicitly critical of Whiteness, with none supportive of it. One, Dominique Hollins, who is Black and female, taught Saatchi employees that Whiteness is “a false construct created to divide the rich elite from everyone else.” It’s unclear if this is Saatchi’s or Publicis Groupe’s official view.
Another invited speaker, Ellen K Pao, an Asian DEI consultant, believes privileged people need to “share opportunities or step aside and give them to others,” and that the U.S. has “racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, and additional forms of bias and discrimination built into our workplaces, our schools, our medical care and all our institutions. We know it is systemic and harmful." Pao advises companies to "hold people accountable for the harm they cause, and that means tracking metrics and results." Pao stands “for equity and for fairness." While Pao states that “Social media platforms are enabling and amplifying white supremacy and other forms of hate for profit," it’s unclear if she is referencing the recent nationwide lurch towards corporatized DEI White-hate as part of the latter, which she is a part of. The prevalence of White men in business is upsetting to Pao. It’s unclear if this is Saatchi’s or Publicis Groupe’s official view.
Ty Heath, an invited Black and female speaker, taught Saatchi & Saatchi employees that, “White supremacy is very deep” in our society. It’s unclear if this is Saatchi’s or Publicis Groupe’s official view.
Black Jewish female invitee April Powers of Project Shema, a Jewish organization, shared the dangers around living in White America with her captive Saatchi audience when she warned employees that when White people get together to march, “it’s only resulted in brutal rapes, beheadings, and murders of us and stealing everything we have and our rights...it’s not a matter of if, it’s when.” Showing a graph about “Racism” with “Whites” having high levels of “Status and Safety” and “Blacks” having low levels, she educates Saatchi employees that Jewish people shouldn’t think they’re White and safe, but she warns that in [her] reality, Jewish Americans are actually victims of White systemic oppression, as well, along with “Blacks.” Adding to the Jewish White-scare, she gleefully quotes a DEI professional’s belief, “It’s understandable that White people hate Jews: ya’ll killed Christ!” It’s unclear if this is Saatchi’s or Publicis Groupe’s official view.
As evidenced on their website, Saatchi & Saatchi proudly stands with Black Lives Matter, an anti-White activist group based on Marxist thought that calls for the abolition of the nuclear family, police protection, prisons and capitalism, and views Whiteness as oppressive and harmful. Saatchi has given 624 hours of community service “to further the Black Lives Matter Movement” along with financial donations. Whiteness, to BLM leader Melina Abdullah, is “a malignant, parasitic-like condition to which ‘white’ people have a particular susceptibility.” BLM sees “white supremacy” and police violence as the key obstacles for Black Americans. It’s unclear if this is Saatchi’s or Publicis Groupe’s official view.
Based on the provided data, Saatchi & Saatchi’s DEI initiatives, corporate views, and work environment likely meet the threshold for violating NYSHRL with respect to both racial harassment and discrimination against White employees. The mandatory anti-bias training, pervasive anti-White rhetoric from leaders and speakers, and race-based programs (e.g., scholarships, hiring preferences) create a hostile work environment and risk disparate treatment. The BIPOC vs. White framework, reinforced by BLM support and ESG-driven DEI priorities, fosters a culture that stereotypes White employees as oppressors, meeting the “severe or pervasive” standard. The pending lawsuit (Case #10221229) alleging anti-White harassment under Geraldine White’s leadership strengthens this conclusion, though its outcome is pending. The agency’s failure to balance messaging or address White employees’ concerns amplifies legal exposure.
Key Risks:
- Mandatory training and promotion-linked DEI requirements labeling White people as oppressors create a hostile work environment, violating NYSHRL.
- Race-based programs (e.g., scholarships, non-White hiring focus) risk disparate treatment by excluding or deprioritizing White individuals.
- Pervasive anti-White rhetoric from speakers (e.g., Manekem, Powers) and leadership (e.g., Donahue, White) suggests a pattern of harassment, corroborated by the lawsuit.
- Investor-driven ESG pressures may prioritize DEI metrics over equal treatment, increasing liability.
*DEI "equity" involves prioritizing certain racial, gender, or identity groups with targeted resources or opportunities to ensure equal outcomes at the cost of fairness and individual merit. DEI’s equity focus shares some similarities with communism and socialism in its group-based, redistributive approach, and with totalitarianism in ideological coercion.
Institutional investors like Capital Research and Management Company, BlackRock, and The Vanguard Group, increasingly emphasize Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors, including diversity and inclusion metrics, in their investment stewardship and proxy voting guidelines. This external pressure from major parent company Publicis Groupe’s shareholders likely serves as a significant driver for Saatchi & Saatchi's public commitments and strategic focus on ESG and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB). Consequently, accountability for the design and impact of DEI initiatives rests primarily with the company's leadership and board, who must navigate these influential investor expectations.
This information is based on publicly available information, including websites, case studies, and news articles from a recent period. To ensure you have the most accurate and current information, please refer to the company's official announcements. The information provided on this website is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice; consult a licensed attorney for specific legal guidance.
05.15.25: DieDEI.co has acquired a substantial collection of internal DEI materials from Saatchi & Saatchi. To stay up to date, please follow our social media channels and subscribe to our newsletter.
NOTE: Client lists are subject to change. This information is based on publicly available information, including websites, case studies, and news articles from a recent period. To ensure you have the most accurate and current information, please refer to the company's official announcements.