Report: Under Armour Ousts Ryan Kuehl And Walker Jones

Ryan Kuehl, Under Armour’s SVP of global sports marketing, and Walker Jones, the brand’s senior director of sports marketing, both left the company last week following an internal review of their department’s spending, according to the Wall Street Journal. The exits come after reports of a past practice of letting employees expense strip club visits.

Under Armour’s investigation looked at whether the two executives’ spending was appropriate and how they ran the department. This included how money was spent at events, athletes’ gifts and nights out, sources told the Journal.

Under Armour did not provide a reason to employees for the exits.

“Per company policy, we do not comment on specific personnel matters,” an Under Armour spokeswoman told the Journal.

Their exits come after the Journal came out with an extensive report in early November detailing years of sexual misconduct at the firm.

The aspect earning the most attention was the past practice of enabling executives and employees to expense visits to strip clubs with athletes or co-workers after some corporate and sporting events. In February, Under Armour sent out a companywide email banning the trips, as well as gambling.

The newspaper’s investigation also found that “some top male executives violated company policy by behaving inappropriately with female subordinates.” Women were sometimes invited to an “annual company event based on their attractiveness to appeal to male guests” — a method referred to as “stocking the pond,” according to the report.

Kuehl was hired in 2009 as a director in sports marketing and was promoted to his latest position in 2016. He was in charge of approving expenses and allocating funds for the department. He played for the New York Giants from 2003 to 2008.

Jones worked for Under Armour starting about a decade ago until 2014 when he joined CAA Sports, where he worked on the agency’s coaching business. Sources told the Journal he left the first time after questionable spending practices. He was rehired in 2016.

Image courtesy Under Armour