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By Nathalie Tadena 

Publicis Chief Executive Maurice Levy sent a memo to employees Tuesday seeking to clarify remarks he made last week that seemed to dismiss the idea that sexism and racism are issues in the advertising industry, instead relegated to a recent isolated event.

Diversity in the ad industry has been in the limelight in recent weeks after the chief communications officer of WPP agency J. Walter Thompson filed a lawsuit alleging the company's then-CEO Gustavo Martinez of racist and sexist behavior . Mr. Martinez, who has denied the allegations, resigned as CEO and was replaced by WPP executive Tamara Ingram.

At the American Association of Advertising Agencies' annual Transformation conference in Miami last week, Mr. Levy was asked by a reporter on stage why gender issues remain a challenge in the industry.

"I don't believe that what happened at JWT is exemplary of what's happening in our industry. It's a one-man mistake," Mr. Levy responded. "But it's not a fair representation of the industry."

Other speakers at the 4As conference took issue with Mr. Levy's characterization of the state of diversity in the industry, including WPP CEO Martin Sorrell who said that Mr. Levy "has a habit of ignoring the facts." Mr. Sorrell said he disagreed with the rival executive's suggestion that racism and sexism aren't widespread issues in the industry.

In an internal memo sent to Publicis managers on Tuesday, Mr. Levy clarified that when he replied to the reporter's question, he was focused on the alleged racist, anti-Semitic and sexist comments made by JWT's CEO. Mr. Levy, in the memo, called the allegations in the complaint "appalling."

The lawsuit against JWT's former CEO, filed by a female employee, accuses him of making offensive remarks about African-Americans and people of Jewish faith, as well as making jokes about rape.

"I must say that his comments, if true, are jaw dropping," Mr. Levy wrote in the internal memo. "To such an extent, that in my opinion, they can only represent the unforgivable fault of one man, as opposed to an industry-wide evil. On this point, I maintain my position, and I dare hope that I am right - I can't for one second imagine that it is common in our industry (or in any other) to make jokes at every turn about women, blacks and Jews, and to speak of a subject as sensitive as rape, as it was depicted in [JWT Chief Communications Officer] Erin Johnson's complaint. Should a case of this nature be brought to our attention in our own Groupe, we would react strongly and without delay."

Mr. Levy stated that diversity remains a key focus for the company and highlighted initiatives in place to promote those efforts. Thirty-eight percent of Publicis' executive positions are held by women and the supervisory board is equally divided among men and women, statistics Mr. Levy highlighted in his note.

"I am not wide-eyed, and I am well aware that striking the deserved balance is still some distance away," Mr. Levy wrote. "We know there is a lot of work left to be done, across the industry, with regards to compensation, mobility, promotions, leadership and hiring."

Mr. Levy also addressed Mr. Sorrell's comments about him, saying that "he once again showed his extraordinary level of hypocrisy."

"This situation began in his company, in one of his largest agencies, with a CEO, therefore someone who is meant to lead by example," Mr. Levy said. "His colleague did everything possible to have her story be heard."

Write to Nathalie Tadena at nathalie.tadena@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 29, 2016 17:51 ET (21:51 GMT)

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