Source: Politics<\/p>\n
One of New York City\u2019s leading lobbying and consulting firms is in disarray \u2014 feuding with its corporate owner as top executives head for the exits amid a showdown that\u2019s drawn the ire of Rev. Al Sharpton.<\/p>\n
Mercury Public Affairs, a global company that has been embroiled in litigation against parent company Omnicom Media Group in California<\/a>, is now facing an exodus of key personnel in New York City as they prepare to battle Omnicom\u2019s mandated noncompete requirements for departed staff.<\/p>\n Partner Mike McKeon \u2014 who worked for former governors George Pataki and Andrew Cuomo, and on Rudy Giuliani\u2019s 2008 presidential race \u2014 has indicated he will leave the company, people with knowledge of the matter told POLITICO on the condition of anonymity so they could speak freely about a sensitive personnel matter. Joining him would be Rachel Noerdlinger, another partner at the firm who has long represented Sharpton, the people said.<\/p>\n John Gallagher, also a Mercury partner, is considering departing as well, they said.<\/p>\n The three declined to comment on their plans.<\/p>\n The pending departures would come on the heels of an exodus of top consultants in the company\u2019s California office. Former Democratic politicians Fabian Nu\u00f1ez, Barbara Boxer and Antonio Villaraigosa recently resigned over financial disputes and Nu\u00f1ez is alleging Omnicom is blocking them from expanding their business and using noncompete clauses that are barred by California law.<\/p>\n In his suit, Nu\u00f1ez criticized the company\u2019s handling of a foreign nonprofit connected to former Donald Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort \u2014 an episode that left Mercury legally and reputationally vulnerable, The Los Angeles Times reported<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n At issue in New York \u2014 where the company has represented prominent real estate developers, Charter Communications and Sharpton\u2019s National Action Network \u2014 is Omnicom\u2019s insistence on restrictive covenants that stipulate departed staffers cannot continue to represent the firm\u2019s clients or work together for at least a year.<\/p>\n The employees knowingly signed those agreements after Omnicom bought Mercury in 2005, but the setup is now under fire from Sharpton and other civil rights organizations who say it is outdated and oppressive.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople of color in the business world of all ages really have been undervalued and as a result, I believe they\u2019re underpaid. Corporations like Omnicom want to lean on restrictive covenants to hold them down, hold them back,\u201d Sharpton said in a recent interview.<\/p>\n Under the agreement, Noerdlinger could not continue to represent Sharpton after leaving, despite their 25-year professional relationship, he said.<\/p>\n An Omnicom spokesperson did not respond to questions, but shared a lawsuit<\/a> it filed last week in federal court in Manhattan. The court papers argue, among other things, that California\u2019s Nu\u00f1ez and Kirill Goncharenko engaged in an \u201cunlawful scheme to harm Mercury and further line their own pockets.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHaving been paid millions of dollars by Mercury, and having promised in multiple written contracts not to solicit Mercury\u2019s employees or clients, defendants have now broken those promises,\u201d the lawsuit states. \u201cDefendants have resigned from Mercury, set up a new business, and are in the process of stripping Mercury\u2019s California office of its employees and clients.\u201d<\/p>\n The suit was filed across the country because, the plaintiffs argue, \u201cthe applicable contracts provide for New York courts as the \u2018exclusive\u2019 forum and for New York law to apply. It seeks to enforce the contractual provisions that the parties agreed to, for which Mercury negotiated and paid handsomely, and which defendants have openly breached.\u201d<\/p>\n Sharpton said he plans to urge the state Legislature to take up the cause and pass a bill outlawing noncompete clauses, with which President Joe Biden has also indicated concern.<\/a><\/p>\n He is joined by Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, who called noncompete mandates \u201cboth unconstitutional and illegal in most respects\u201d in a letter sent Monday to Omnicom CEO John Wren.<\/p>\n \u201cThey prevent people from using their God-given human talent to pursue business and occupational interests on their own behalf,\u201d Morial added.<\/p>\n He also indicated support for a bill Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz (D-Bronx) plans to introduce in Albany that would bar companies of any size from workers sign noncompete clauses.<\/p>\n Dinowitz said he has discussed his legislation with people at Mercury, but said he has long been concerned about the issue.<\/p>\n In a recent interview, he called noncompete clauses \u201cundemocratic, inequitable, unfair.\u201d<\/p>\n