June 14, 2010

Sex scandal rocks Penguin

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Rachna Davidar, wife of David Davidar, fends off reporters at their home

Rachna Davidar, wife of David Davidar, fends off reporters at their home

People were shocked when Penguin Group CEO John Makinson announced last Tuesday that the charismatic head of Penguin Canada, David Davidar, who was also appointed head of Penguin International just six months ago and was seen as being groomed to take over from Makinson, was voluntarily quitting to write a book. As this Globe and Mail story reported Wednesday, the news was greeted with “dismay,” because Davidar was “Widely credited for engineering a turnaround in the local imprint’s fortunes since he took over in 2003,” signing numerous award-winning writers and doubling the division’s revenues.

Now, people are even more shocked, as it was revealed Friday that, well, Makinson hadn’t quite told the truth. As Davidar himself says in another Globe and Mail report, “At Penguin’s request, I agreed to publicly state that my departure was voluntary. The truth is that a former colleague accused me of sexual harassment and Penguin terminated my employment.”

The former colleague, Lisa Rundle, who was Penguin Canada’s director of digital publishing and foreign rights,”is claiming damages of $423,000 from Penguin for wrongful dismissal and the ‘harsh, vindictive and malicious fashion’ with which it allegedly treated her following her complaints against Mr. Davidar. She is also seeking damages of $100,000 against Mr. Davidar personally.”

A report in the Star further details Rundle’s charges, saying she has “alleged Davidar practised a ‘campaign of harassment,’ which included inappropriate text messages, leering and stalking, and culminated with Davidar bullying his way into her hotel room at the Frankfurt Book Fair last October and forcing his tongue into her mouth.”

Penguin, meanwhile, has denied it fired Rundle, and says she quit — “having declined to pursue other career opportunities within the organization.”

Davidar also denies the charges against him and he plans to fight them “vigorously.” His wife, Rachna Davidar, a former bookstore manager for the McNally Robinson chain, tells the Star, “We’ll get through this together.”

Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.

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