{"id":378018,"date":"2021-12-08T01:33:04","date_gmt":"2021-12-07T22:33:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/nielsen-tv-ratings-exec-faced-ethics-probe-over-affair-with-company-lawyer\/"},"modified":"2021-12-08T01:33:04","modified_gmt":"2021-12-07T22:33:04","slug":"nielsen-tv-ratings-exec-faced-ethics-probe-over-affair-with-company-lawyer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/nielsen-tv-ratings-exec-faced-ethics-probe-over-affair-with-company-lawyer\/","title":{"rendered":"#Nielsen TV ratings exec faced ethics probe over affair with company lawyer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#Nielsen TV ratings exec faced ethics probe over affair with company lawyer<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>TV-ratings firm Nielsen hired outside lawyers in September to investigate its No. 2 executive for having an affair with a company lawyer, The Post has learned.<\/p>\n<p>The internal probe \u2014 sparked by an anonymous whistleblower \u2014 found that Chief Operating Officer Karthik Rao didn\u2019t violate the company\u2019s code of conduct, sources said. But the alleged affair with the Nielsen lawyer \u2014 who also got a promotion during the trysts \u2014 has raised eyebrows during an era of \u201cMe Too\u201d corporate scrutiny. <\/p>\n<p>The attorney eventually broke up with Rao and left the company, a source familiar with the matter told The Post. After the breakup, Rao sent the woman a rambling email with the subject line \u201cMy thoughts\u2026..\u201d saying, \u201cI have done the work to know it is not your fault.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI fell deeply in love with you and the whole you,\u201d Rao wrote in the December 2020 email, which was reviewed by The Post. \u201cHaving my own darkness, I knew that everyone has baggage. The truth is that I never ran, not once. And I was gentle, caring and cautious to help you work through your feelings for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Part of what Nielsen investigated, according to sources, was whether Rao used his position to pave the way for the woman to get a promotion. <\/p>\n<p>In a statement to The Post, Rao said: \u201cI am in full compliance with the code of conduct.\u00a0I am confident in the thoroughness of the investigation Nielsen completed and support its conclusions.\u201d He declined to comment further on the alleged affair.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/nielsen-coo-affair-ethics-01-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20406215\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/nielsen-coo-affair-ethics-01-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/nielsen-coo-affair-ethics-01-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/nielsen-coo-affair-ethics-01-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Chief Operating Officer Karthik Rao, second from right, was investigated by Nielsen for having an alleged affair with a company lawyer. Part of what Nielsen investigated, according to sources, was whether Rao used his position to pave the way for the woman to get a promotion.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Rob Kim<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Nielsen ruled that the affair didn\u2019t present a conflict because Rao was not the woman\u2019s direct supervisor. That\u2019s despite the fact that she <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>arently was promoted instead of candidates that had been recommended by Nielsen\u2019s Deputy Chief Legal Officer Eric Rubenstein, according to a December 2019 email from Rubenstein to the woman, in which he also congratulated her for the promotion.<\/p>\n<p>Nielsen said the woman\u2019s supervisor \u201cmade a fully independent decision,\u201d which the company said was affirmed during the course of its investigation.<\/p>\n<p>Though Nielsen told The Post that its review found \u201cno conflict of interest in the performance of duties or impact on Nielsen\u2019s business,\u201d the company said it\u2019s \u201ctaking this as an opportunity to review our policies and will be making updates, in consultation with outside counsel, as appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When asked to detail any updates, Nielsen wouldn\u2019t comment specifically, but said: \u201cWe are reviewing \u2014 as we do periodically \u2014 the entire code\u00a0with\u00a0respect to our employee rights and duties.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The company\u2019s most current code of conduct, from 2019, says: \u201cCertain relationships can also create conflicts of interest or the appearance of conflict of interest.\u201d It also says: \u201cA romantic relationship between a manager and someone managed by that person would present a conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/nielsen-coo-affair-ethics-02-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20406267\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/nielsen-coo-affair-ethics-02-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/nielsen-coo-affair-ethics-02-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/nielsen-coo-affair-ethics-02-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Nielsen\u2019s code of conduct doesn\u2019t require affairs to be disclosed, unlike some other public companies.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">GC Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Nevertheless, Nielsen\u2019s code of conduct doesn\u2019t require affairs to be disclosed, unlike some other public companies, such as McDonald\u2019s, which ousted a CEO last year after it found he had lied about an affair with an employee.<\/p>\n<p>Still, \u201cthe optics of this aren\u2019t great \u2014 and that\u2019s the problem,\u201d said Charles Elson, a corporate governance expert and attorney who is not involved in the situation. <\/p>\n<p>If Nielsen had explicitly required the disclosure of workplace affairs, it might have discouraged Rao from starting the alleged romance \u2014 or given the company the right to discipline him once it learned of the alleged affair, Elson said. <\/p>\n<p>While sources said Rao was cleared of code of conduct violations, it\u2019s unclear if he faced any punishment for the alleged affair. Nielsen wouldn\u2019t comment.<\/p>\n<p>The company\u2019s head of compliance and integrity, Lauren Connell, opened the investigation into Rao on Sept. 24, four days after the complaint was received, according to a document that detailed an exchange between Connell and the whistleblower.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have complete independence and access to the internal records necessary to fully investigate this matter and have retained outside counsel due to the serious nature of the [alleged] conduct,\u201d Connell wrote.<\/p>\n<p>On Nov. 2, Connell sent a cryptic message to the whistleblower that said, \u201cWe have fully investigated the concern you raised and taken re<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>l action, if appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It is unclear if Nielsen\u2019s CEO or the board were made aware of the probe, but on Oct. 28, Rao participated in Nielsen\u2019s third-quarter earnings call. There was no mention of the investigation that he was facing at the time.<\/p>\n<p>Rao\u2019s rise to power at Nielsen came amid upheaval at the company in November 2019. The research firm had split into two publicly-traded entities \u2014 one handling consumer research, and the other focusing on TV ratings.<\/p>\n<p>Rao, who was chief product and <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> officer at Nielsen, was promoted to the lofty role of COO of the newly formed media company, now dubbed Nielsen Global Media.\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. 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The internal probe \u2014 sparked by an anonymous whistleblower \u2014 found that Chief Operating Officer Karthik Rao&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":378019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/nielsen-coo-affair-ethics-09-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[72567,121127,72645,121212,75040,25406],"class_list":["post-378018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-metoo","tag-12-7-21","tag-corporate-governance","tag-nielsen","tag-nielsen-ratings","tag-sexual-misconduct"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}