A resignation letter from an MEC employee in London, which makes strong public allegations about sexism and anti-Semitism, has spread like wildfire across Twitter.
The resignation letter, written by MEC London senior account manager Kieran Allen, has made claims regarding head of performance Greg Shickle, accusing him of numerous “bigoted remarks”. The letter also claimed that an intense workload led Allen to the point of “imminent breakdown”.
The letter has spread across Twitter and the internet, being referred to as Shicklegate.
According to The Drum, MEC chief executive Steve Hatch has issued a statement saying: "We are sad that one of our employees has chosen to share their personal views in such a public way and has left the company with such bad feeling. We are taking this issue seriously though given the highly personal nature of the email, we cannot comment further."
The letter has received a mixed response on Twitter.
One person tweeted: “No matter how bad your day has been, at least you're not Greg Shickle.”
Another said: “Just stop gossiping and get a life!!! Greg is a great head of performance and a boss that treats everyone kindly.”
One person wrote: #shicklegate displays the sheer potential and possibility behind #social - and it's lack of control!”
British paper The Sun wrote a story about the resignation letter, but then removed it. One person commented on this, saying: “So The Sun has removed #ShickleGate story from front page of it's site. Someone's thinking about ad spend....”
Mel Carson, founder of Seattle-based branding, social and digital agency Delightful Communications, wrote on his blog: “I think it’s sad because two people’s careers may lay in tatters.
“Shickle’s because whatever he says in his defence, it’s unlikely anyone will fully believe him, and Allen because he’ll probably get sued if these allegations are not true, and who’s going to want to work with someone who appears to be logging your every move anyway?
"What else lays in tatters is the reputation of journalism for going after page views in lieu of actually checking facts. I know it’s The Sun we’re talking about, but still, the attitude of 'publish' and then 'oops sorry, unpublish' is starting to wear a little thin.
“This one’s set to roll with a lot of tweets asking if the BBC will talk about it on tonight’s news in the UK.
“Let’s hope not eh?
“There’s plenty more wrong with the world without worrying about this little spat.”
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