Dayan Candappa, who was accused of sexually harassing his subordinate at Reuters for months, has been placed on leave by Newsweek pending an investigation.

A former top editor at Reuters was fired in 2016 after a subordinate filed a complaint saying he repeatedly sexually harassed her — only for him to land a job as an executive at Newsweek Media Group months later. Reuters removed Dayan Candappa from his role as Americas editor after a senior reporter complained to Reuters management about his behavior on Feb. 2, 2016. One of the allegations, according to the complaint, which was seen by BuzzFeed News, was that Candappa promised to further his subordinate’s career at Reuters if she complied with his sexual demands. The document, which was sent by a law firm, had the complainant’s name redacted. She remains an employee at Reuters. The complainant didn’t respond when contacted by BuzzFeed News. Candappa didn’t return three emails requesting comment. A person who answered his home phone number on Monday hung up. Shortly after this article was published, Newsweek management told staff at a meeting that Candappa had been placed on leave pending an independent investigation, a source told BuzzFeed News. At the meeting, Newsweek management said "three weeks of due diligence" was conducted before hiring Candappa but it did not uncover anything more than rumors. The company is now hiring a law firm to conduct an internal investigation into his hiring. "Based on allegations raised today on BuzzFeed News, Newsweek Media Group has put chief content officer Dayan Candappa on leave while the company conducts an independent investigation," Newsweek said in a statement to BuzzFeed News. Candappa was hired at Newsweek Media Group on May 23, 2016. He is currently the global editor-in-chief of the International Business Times and chief content officer of Newsweek Media Group.

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Claudia Parsons, who was Newsweek's international news editor at the time, told BuzzFeed News she encouraged managers at IBT Media — which rebranded to Newsweek Media Group in April 2017 — to investigate why Candappa was removed before hiring him for the editor-in-chief position. Parsons said she’d heard Candappa’s departure from Reuters was on bad terms. Parsons told BuzzFeed News she discussed the issue with her boss at the time, Jim Impoco, who was editor-in-chief of Newsweek. Impoco told Parsons he took it to upper management, and management told Impoco that they had investigated Candappa’s departure and decided to hire him. Parsons and Impoco have since left Newsweek for unrelated reasons. In an email, Impoco said he would not dispute Parson’s account but declined to comment further.

“Newsweek Media Group conducts rigorous pre-employment checks on its employees. These checks were completed when we hired Mr Candappa to the role of Global Editor-in Chief of The International Business Times in 2016. Our company has a zero tolerance policy for any form of harassment. We will treat any report seriously and if necessary take appropriate action,” Newsweek Media Group told BuzzFeed News in a statement. The complaint alleges Candappa repeatedly harassed his subordinate over a course of nearly 10 months from 2015 to 2016. Candappa was an editor and correspondent at Reuters between 2005 and 2016. Over the years he managed hundreds of journalists, and was posted in London, New York, Singapore, Dubai, and Colombo, covering foreign affairs and business. The complainant first met Candappa in August 2014 in Reuters headquarters in New York City. The woman said in the complaint that Candappa began to harass her in April 2015. That same month, according to the complaint, he told her “it would not be good” if she did not demonstrate interest in him.

He told her “it would not be good” if she did not demonstrate interest in him.

She said that if she were traveling for work, Candappa made efforts to work in or visit the same city at the same time, insisting she meet him over dinner or drinks. She said she feared that declining his requests might have negative consequences for her career, and so she agreed. One evening in April 2015, she said in the complaint she agreed to meet Candappa after a corporate dinner. Candappa, who was visiting from New York City, asked her to join him in his hotel room so he could drop off his suitcase. She declined, horrified that a senior editor would invite a female subordinate to his hotel room, and waited downstairs for him. Later, she said he insisted on walking her home, despite her repeatedly telling him that she could go alone. When they arrived at her door, Candappa grabbed her and tried to kiss her. She pushed him away and quickly went inside. The next day in the office, he told her she was “heartbreakingly beautiful,” according to the complaint. On another evening in May 2015, the complainant agreed to meet Candappa for a drink. He told her that he could be helpful to her career with Reuters, and that he wanted to assist her. He also said he was looking for love, and that he was unhappy in his marriage. “I want to cum — to release myself and not worry about it,” he told her, according to the complaint. She said she tactfully refused his advances. She told him that because she worked in his chain of command, it would not be appropriate for her to become involved with him. Candappa then appeared visibly angered, the complaint said, and told her “you need to think about ‘us.’” Worried about losing her job if she rebuffed him again, she began to cry, said she wanted to go, and left abruptly. The next day, she was stunned that Candappa approached her in the office and said, “I want you to seriously think and consider what I told you last night.” Though her work cell and landline numbers were available through the corporate directory, Candappa asked her in May 2015 for her personal phone number. He used it repeatedly to call her to discuss non-work-related topics, according to the complaint. She tried to avoid his calls and meetings, but maintained a friendly demeanor so she didn’t offend him. She said she never asked him to call her except for a work-related reason. In one phone call in May 2015, Candappa called her “hot” and said she “looks good in everything she wears.” He referred to himself as “the most powerful man in Reuters America.” The complaint said Candappa frequently sent her text messages and emails, often at early hours of the morning. His texts, she said in the complaint, included comments such as: “I may quit and come after you. Be warned.”

“You've not responded to my hints about send me a picture so I guess I should make the trip in person.”

“I’ve been thinking about you. Always on my mind.” During this time, the complaint said she worried that if she declined his requests for dinner, or didn’t reply to his messages, her career would suffer. She tried to dodge him but also felt pressured to appease him. She said she was terrified of losing her job because she provided financial support for her parents.

At one point, she said in the complaint, she grew so emotionally exhausted that she considered accepting a non-journalism job elsewhere. She confided in a colleague that she felt like resigning because she could no longer tolerate Candappa’s advances. The colleague encouraged her to stay in her chosen industry. In May 2015, he told her he felt she wasn’t being responsive to him and that she wasn’t interested in him. According to the complaint, he told her “that is not good” in an “ominous” tone on a phone call. In an effort to appease him, she reverted back to taking a more relaxed, friendly tone with him in emails and texts. Candappa pressured her for a sexual relationship at least three more times between October and November 2015, according to the complaint. He told her he couldn’t stop thinking about her, and pushed her to start a sexual relationship with him over a lunch. She rebuffed him, but he angrily replied she needed to give him a chance and change her behavior.

“Why can't you just give yourself the chance to see where this goes… I’m not here to hurt your career, I’m only here to help you.”