The Confederation of British Industry is facing fresh criticism of its ‘toxic’ culture with more than a dozen women alleging sexual misconduct by senior CBI figures, including one allegation of rape at a summer party.
The business lobbying organisation, which represents nearly 200,000 employers in the UK, has expanded an investigation into misconduct, which began last month when its director-general Tony Danker stepped aside following allegations of him making unwanted contact with a female employee. Danker has apologised for causing any unintentional offence.
The Guardian has reported today that more than a dozen women claim to have been victims of sexual misconduct by senior figures at the CBI, including one who alleges being raped at a staff party on a boat in London.
The women, who either work at the CBI or have done so recently, approached the newspaper with fresh concerns about the CBI’s toxic culture and criticised how the industry body was conducting the investigation, saying they felt fearful of coming forward.
New claims against different men, separate from the allegations made against Danker, also include:
- An attempted sexual assault by a manager at the same staff party in 2019
- A senior manager sending explicit images to junior female staff
- Senior managers behaving inappropriately towards much younger female colleagues, including a former board member touching a female employee’s bottom and making sexualised remarks
- A manager propositioning women after they felt he encouraged them to drink more alcohol, and
- Widespread drug use at official CBI events.
CBI sexual misconduct
The Guardian said it has seen documentary evidence to support some of the claims, with the women saying they believe there has been an “unchecked culture of misogyny at the organisation”.
One woman said: “There are some kind men who work at the CBI. But there are also men who prey on younger women. The experience of being targeted destroyed my confidence at work, and in other parts of my personal life.”
The woman who claims she was raped by a senior colleague at a CBI summer boat party in 2019 told the Guardian she felt let down by her manager who allegedly advised her to seek counselling rather than pursue the matter. The woman did not report it to the police and the CBI said it had no record of the incident.
A CBI spokesperson told The Guardian: “The CBI has treated and continues to treat all matters of workplace conduct with the utmost seriousness, which is why, earlier this month, we commissioned a thorough investigation by an independent law firm into all recent allegations that have been put to us.
“It would undermine this important process and be damaging and prejudicial to all the individuals involved to comment on these allegations at this point. We will not hesitate to take any necessary action when the investigation concludes.”
Elizabeth Gardiner, CEO at Protect, a UK whistleblowing charity, said: “It is concerning that there has been a further wave of whistleblowers at the CBI raising fresh allegations against the organisation through the press. This reiterates the message that the staff do not feel that internal processes are adequate enough to investigate or respond quickly enough to their concerns, or that they are fearful of coming forward in case of negative repercussions for their position at work.
“We strongly recommend that the CBI reviews its whistleblowing procedures so that staff can safely raise whistleblowing concerns internally. This should include consistent training both for individuals on how to voice concerns about wrongdoing – including sexual misconduct – and for managers on how to be good recipients of bad news or criticism. The CBI should have processes to address misconduct identified by whistleblowers and put in measures to help prevent it in the future.”
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The CBI has disputed that it was mishandling the investigation or that it had discouraged women from coming forward. It said staff have access to an anonymous complaints mailbox and to an external HR consultant.
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