Galbraith settles with Cohn & Wolfe

Rebecca Galbraith has settled court proceedings issued by the global public relations agency Cohn & Wolfe (C&W), where she was previously a board director.

Galbraith had been dismissed on grounds of gross misconduct a month after she handed in her notice at the agency.

In the proceedings at the high court, C&W alleged that Galbraith "acted in breach of contract and fiduciary duty by misappropriating proprietary information belonging to Cohn & Wolfe and preparing to actively compete with the agency while sitting as a board director."

As reported in PR Week, Galbraith said: "Firstly I wish to apologise unreservedly to Cohn & Wolfe and WPP for my actions, but secondly I wish to the apologise to the Cohn & Wolfe team in London."

She continued: "I accept my conduct was in breach of my legal obligations. I acknowledge I removed proprietary information belonging to Cohn & Wolfe but confirm that I did not open or disseminate that information to any third parties."

Galbraith has paid an undisclosed settlement. Her apology follows those of fellow former board directors, Fiona McMillan, who settled out of court on April 20 and, Jeremy Clark, who settled out of court on April 16.