Daily Mail staff smeared poop on walls to protest sexist editor: Lawsuit

MANHATTAN (CN) — Employees at the Daily Mail were so outraged by one editor’s treatment of women in the workplace that they engaged in acts of unsanitary protest at the tabloid’s Manhattan office, real estate reporter Marianne Garvey claims in a new lawsuit.

In a 21-page complaint filed Thursday in New York County Supreme Court, Garvey claims she was warned by colleagues shortly after being hired that her boss, Money & Commerce Section Editor Daniel Jones, “is abusive and hostile toward female employees” — to the point that they often left the newsroom in tears.

But she didn’t realize the extent of the issue until she walked into the building’s restroom, she says in the suit.

“About a month after plaintiff arrived at the Daily Mail, she noticed that women were periodically defecating in the bathroom on top of toilet seats and smearing poop onto the walls,” Garvey claims. “Plaintiff’s colleagues informed her that women were performing these grotesque acts to protest the Daily Mail’s mistreatment of women and, more specifically, for failing to take action in response to complaints of sexual harassment.”

Garvey, 50, is a veteran reporter with credits in CNN, New York Post, New York Daily News and other outlets. She says she was hired by the Daily Mail in February 2025 and was on the receiving end of Jones’ “hate, discrimination and harassment” within mere weeks.

First, he told her to stop using pictures of male real estate agents in her stories.

“No one wants to see that,” he said, according to Garvey. “Only attractive women will get clicks.”

Garvey says Jones specifically directed her to use pictures of women in bikinis and, on one occasion, sent her a nude stock photo of a woman and instructed her to send it to a female employee in the photo department.

He later sent her another nude photo of a woman on Slack, she claims, asking her to include more photos in her stories “like this” and requesting “hotter” and “more attractive” images of women in real estate coverage.

According to Garvey, Jones also berated her several times to the point of tears. In one instance, he slammed his fist on his desk and ordered her to “stop talking,” she claims. In another, he “stood over plaintiff and yelled at her repeatedly screaming ‘let me speak!’ in front of several witnesses.”

Jones’ behavior wasn’t isolated just to Garvey, however — she claims it was widely experienced among other women in the newsroom.

“Defendant Jones was widely known at the Daily Mail to disrespect women, including his female subordinates, and cheat on his wife in front of female employees and his subordinates at Daily Mail company events, including the 2025 holiday party,” Garvey claims. “Photographs of defendant Jones groping the female at the holiday party were circulated around the newsroom, which further exacerbated the discomfort felt by female employees, including plaintiff.”

Jones, a United Kingdom native, has held his New York-based post at the Daily Mail for the past two years, according to his LinkedIn profile. But his editorial experience spans more than two decades, including a 10-year stint at The Sun in London.

Jones didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

Garvey took her concerns to human resources and reported Jones for sexual harassment. But her complaints were purportedly met with more harassment from the paper’s managing editor, Richard Ellis, who Garvey claims “pretextually scrutinize[d] her work” and eventually pulled her off the real estate beat.

In a statement to Courthouse News, the Daily Mail denied Garvey’s claims.

“Daily Mail takes workplace conduct matters seriously and is committed to maintaining a professional, respectful, and safe environment for all employees,” said a spokesperson for the paper. “We strongly dispute the allegations and characterization of the company set forth in the complaint. The company has established processes for reviewing employee concerns and intends to respond to these allegations through the appropriate legal process.”

Garvey claims she is the 11th female employee at the Daily Mail who has been subjected to sexual harassment and retaliation by Jones and Ellis, who are both named as defendants in the lawsuit, along with the paper itself.

“By allowing this illegal, hostile and abusive conduct to permeate the New York Office for years, and enabling those in power to carry out the harassment and retaliation unabated, the Daily Mail has conveyed a blatant yet grim message to its female employees: this is not a safe place for you and you are not welcome here,” Garvey says.

Garvey is seeking a variety of damages, including for emotional distress. She says she continues to suffer from depression, PTSD, heart palpitations, nightmares and anxiety as a direct result of her experience at the tabloid.

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