PR Firm Staff Rebels Over Anti-Abortion Campaign

Scores of executives in the nation’s largest public relations firm are rebelling over its decision to direct a Roman Catholic anti-abortion campaign, leaving the company with a public relations crisis of its own.

About a third of Hill & Knowlton’s headquarters staff signed a letter protesting its decision to promote an anti-abortion message for the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops. Others have complained individually, and one quit.

The irony, dissident employees said in interviews this week, is that one of Hill & Knowlton specialties is advising companies how to avoid such turmoil. Its own failure could reflect poorly on the firm, they said.

“We have used extraordinarily poor judgment in our very own area of expertise,” said one executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of jeopardizing his career. “The firm violated everything we would advise a client to do about consulting employees. Every basic rule was violated.”

There could be other fallouts: Two minor clients have withdrawn their accounts and others have expressed disappointment, dissidents said.

For their part, Hill & Knowlton and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops reaffirmed their intention to proceed with the account, said to be worth $3 million to $5 million over three to five years.

“I don’t think we’ve made a mistake as a firm in taking on this account,” said John Berard, a spokesman in Hill & Knowlton’s Washington office, which will handle the work. “We knew it was going to be controversial.”