The day after Editorial Director Lockhart Steele was fired for unspecified inappropriate conduct, Vox media is conducting “multiple investigations,” company CEO Jim Bankoff told employees during an all-hands meeting on Friday.
“While we were able to take swift action” with Steele, Bankoff said, according to the Hollywood Reporter, “based on what we uncovered so far in the investigation, we’re trying to stress that the investigation is not done. There are multiple investigations happening.”
Bankoff also told employees that Vox has retained the firm law firm Gibson Dunn to assist in the investigations. It is unclear how many current Vox employees might be under investigation or how quickly the company will complete its inquiries.
Steele was fired on Thursday after he admitted to “engaging in conduct that is inconsistent with our core values and is not tolerated at Vox Media,” Fay Sliger, a company spokesperson, told TheWrap.
While that conduct has not been made public, during today’s meeting, Bankoff cited an anonymous former Vox employee who wrote a disturbing account of harassment at the hands of an unnamed VP, in a Medium post published October 12. Bankoff also thanked “everyone who has come forward.”
Steele’s termination from Vox comes just one week after a report by Buzzfeed about the “Sh—y Media Men” list, a spreadsheet shared among women working mainly in New York-area media that identified problematic behavior by their male colleagues. The list compiled allegations ranging from inappropriate “flirting” and “weird lunch dates,” to sexual harassment, sexual assault, stalking, rape, and violence.
The content of the list has not been made public. A spokesperson for Vox did not immediately respond to inquiries from The Wrap about whether the Steele investigations were linked to the list.