CTPartners investor urges SEC to investigate firm’s disclosure
CTPartners, the embattled Wall Street headhunting firm that last month was rocked by sexual discrimination claims, now has its own shareholders to worry about.
An investor has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to look into whether the company withheld vital information regarding a dozen or so sexual harassment complaints around 2012, according to a confidential letter sent to the regulator, a copy of which was reviewed by The Post.
Claims of sexual discrimination by a former female employee of CTPartners — along with news that as many as 12 workers at the company had complained to CTPartners’ human resources managers about the same issue — were first reported by The Post.
“The fact that the Corporation has failed to provide information about which it was aware as far back as 2012 shows a blatant disregard for the Corporation’s current shareholders and the investing public in general,” the shareholder’s letter, in the form of a complaint, alleges.
“That is information a current shareholder or potential future shareholder would want to know about in evaluating the Corporation stock and future prospects for investment purposes,” the complaint reads.
It’s not clear what action, if any, the SEC has taken or will take as a result of the complaint.
CTPartners denies any “vital information” was withheld from shareholders.
“It is completely inaccurate and a deceitful allegation,” Derek Creevey, the company’s chief marketing officer, told The Post. “Not only were there not 12, there were no complaints filed internally in 2012.”
The investor, who isn’t named in the complaint and was never an employee, is looking to bring about a change in management, according to a person familiar with the matter.
CTPartners is one of the most highly regarded executive search firms for Wall Street and other industries. It was named a top 25 headhunter by Crain’s New York Business.
However, that reputation was tarnished last month after The Post detailed a confidential complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging a “boys club” atmosphere where male executives stripped female colleagues of accounts and subjected them to lewd behavior.
The EEOC is investigating the allegations, sources said. They were made by one female former employee and backed up in the complaint by a second former employee.
In addition, two other female employees, not included in the EEOC complaint, independently confirmed to The Post the allegation that CTPartners’ CEO Brian Sullivan and other executives stripped naked during a boozy, company-sponsored event at his Florida home in 2012.
After The Post published details of the complaint on Dec. 8, the company’s stock plummeted 24 percent and CTPartners and Sullivan were forced to cancel a stock offering of more than 1 million shares.
The company has denied any wrongdoing.
“There is a single EEOC complaint which we take seriously, but it has had no material impact on CTPartners’ ongoing operations,” Creevey said. “The firm is insured and our business remains strong.”
The shareholder complaint says that the sexual harassment and discrimination claims should have been disclosed on regulatory documents so investors could have better assessed the risks.
“The sexual discrimination and harassment claims are important information that investors and potential investors in the Corporation’s stock should be made aware of in evaluating their decision whether to invest in and/or retain their investment in the Corporation,” it reads.