Score one for WPP boss Martin Sorrell in his escalating legal battle with former Italy unit head Marco Benatti.
A U.K. judge dismissed a motion yesterday by Benatti to move WPP’s breach-of-contract suit against him to the Italian courts.
His attorney argued that Benatti was an employee of WPP – not a consultant as the ad giant claimed – and that his dismissal didn’t comply with Italy’s employment laws. Benatti said he’d appeal London’s High Court decision.
WPP’s breach-of-contract claim is one of several lawsuits flying back and forth in a messy corporate scandal the U.K. tabloids have dubbed “Benattigate.”
In January, WPP sacked Benatti, the firm’s former country manager in Italy, accusing him of financial shenanigans and violating his WPP consulting pact.
Sorrell then ordered an investigation into the Italian operations, calling in a team of lawyers, accountants and investigators.
WPP alleges that Benatti hid an ownership stake in Media Club, an Italian media-buying shop that WPP acquired several years ago at Benatti’s urging.