Second woman claims she was raped by colleagues
while working at CBI
Exclusive: Another female employee complained she was
stalked by a male colleague in 2018 at the business lobbying group
Anna Isaac
@Annaisaac
Fri 21 Apr
2023 07.20 BST
A woman has
alleged that she was raped by two male colleagues when she worked at the Confederation
of British Industry.
The woman
told the Guardian the incident took place when she was employed at an overseas
office of Britain’s most prominent business lobby group.
She said
she blamed the culture at the CBI for having no support after what she claims
happened to her.
This is the
second woman to claim she was the victim of rape at the CBI – it follows
another member of staff who alleged she was raped by a manager on a 2019 summer
boat party on the River Thames.
Separately,
the Guardian has been told that a woman based at the organisation’s London
office was stalked by a male colleague in 2018. Sources said he followed her in
person and tracked her online, and that when she complained the CBI launched an
investigation.
It is
understood the CBI upheld a finding of harassment.
However,
sources claim the woman was actively discouraged from reporting the stalking to
the police and the alleged perpetrator retained his job.
The CBI
says it has reported further allegations to the police.
Last week
the City of London police launched an investigation into a series of
allegations made by more than a dozen women about misconduct by managers at the
CBI.
The alleged
rape victim approached the Guardian after reading claims made by other women
who worked at the CBI.
She said
she had “nowhere to turn” with her allegations at the time because of what she
felt was a lack of human resources support for workers outside the CBI’s London
headquarters.
After a
night of drinking with colleagues, the woman claims she woke up with the two
men in the same room as her.
She has no
recollection of consenting to sexual activity with either man and described in
detail how physical signs led her to believe she was raped. She claims the men
later made remarks that suggested they had engaged in sexual activity with her
that she could not remember.
The alleged
victim has also claimed that she was presented – in the office – with an image
of herself where she appeared to be unconscious.
It showed a
penis in her mouth, which she understood to have been that of one of her male
colleagues who she claims raped her. She said she believed this photograph,
which the Guardian has seen, was taken at the same time as the alleged rape.
A second
source claimed they recalled her being given the photograph, which they also
saw and independently confirmed the contents of.
“Lots of
people get raped. I don’t blame the CBI for being raped. I was really young and
people took advantage of me after a night of drinking,” the alleged rape victim
said.
“I blame
the CBI for an atmosphere that was allowed to feed into people’s sense of
confidence. That they could act in this way and afterwards feel no worries, no
fears of consequences. That they could feel somehow proud, in an office.
“That there
wasn’t a person for me to speak to in HR who I knew of and could trust.
“I want to
say to other women or men at the CBI that they do great work. I hope they
understand why I wanted to speak about it; what happened to me.”
To protect
the woman’s identity the Guardian is choosing not to report the date of the
alleged incident or the precise international office that it relates to.
The CBI,
which claims to represent 190,000 businesses, including Lloyds Bank and HSBC,
and has regular interactions with the government, has been plunged into turmoil
by the volume and gravity of the allegations.
The
government has suspended engagement with the group while the law firm Fox
Williams conducts an investigation into them.
The
business lobby group issued a public statement on Thursday and passed
information to the police about the Guardian’s inquiry ahead of publication.
The
statement said: “Late yesterday afternoon the CBI was made aware of additional
information relating to a report of a serious criminal offence.” It added that
the CBI was “liaising closely” with the police.
Sources
familiar with the same international office claim that there was a broader
problem with harassment of junior female staff that fed into a toxic culture
and hiring processes. HR matters were handled at that office informally, often
with little contact with the lobby group’s London headquarters, they allege.
The
separate stalking allegation has been confirmed by the CBI.
The female
employee complained in 2018 that she was being stalked by a male colleague
online and in person. The CBI said it undertook an internal investigation and a
finding of harassment was upheld. However, sources familiar with the complaint
claim that the woman was actively discouraged from reporting the harassment to
the police.
Sources
said the woman was asked to move desks and to avoid the alleged stalker at
work. She was told by HR to leave the office at a different time to the alleged
stalker, the Guardian understands.
The CBI
said that a sanction was imposed and the matter concluded and that there was no
record of a desire on the part of the complainant to report the matter to the
police.
The alleged
stalker retained his role and left at a later date for unrelated reasons, the
Guardian understands.
It is
claimed that he admitted to the HR investigation to having sexual and violent
feelings towards her and had followed her home. It is understood that the woman
was not informed.
The CBI
said it had no information on these specific allegations about the alleged
perpetrator’s sexual and violent feelings, and no evidence that people were
discouraged from making police complaints.
The then
CBI director general Dame Carolyn Fairbairn said she was not made aware of the
complaint made in early 2018.
Fairbairn
told the Guardian: “‘I am deeply shocked by this repulsive allegation. I have
absolutely no awareness of a complaint of this nature being made. I have spent
my career fighting for the safety and wellbeing of women in the workplace and
tackling discrimination and unfairness.”
She added:
“It is appalling that this potential allegation was not escalated. Any woman
facing shocking abuse of this kind deserves immediate care, protection and the
full support of her employer and the law.”
CBI
president, Brian McBride, said in a statement: “These latest allegations put to
us by the Guardian are abhorrent and our heart goes out to any women who have
been victims of the behaviour that is described. While the CBI was not
previously aware of the most serious allegations, it is vital that they are
thoroughly investigated now and we are liaising closely with the police to help
ensure any perpetrators are brought to justice.”
He added
that the lobby group is expecting findings from the Fox Williams investigation
“imminently”.
“The board
will be communicating its response to this and other steps we are taking to
bring about the wider change that is needed early next week,” McBride said.
Speaking
earlier this week McBride said the fact staff members shared their complaints
about sexual misconduct with the Guardian rather than with the CBI itself was a
sign of the problems within the organisation.
“People
decided to go to the newspapers and not speak to us directly, which in itself
points to something wrong with our culture,” he said. “Why is it that people
felt that they couldn’t stand up and come forward?”
The CBI was
embroiled in a public spat earlier this week between McBride and its former
director general Tony Danker after he was dismissed from his role last week.
Danker’s conduct was part of a different investigation by Fox Williams that
related to entirely separate allegations about his behaviour.
“The board
lost its trust and confidence in his ability to lead the organisation and
represent the CBI in public,” McBride said of Danker’s dismissal.
Danker said
in an interview with the BBC on Tuesday that he felt he had been “the fall guy”
for allegations unrelated to his own conduct and that his reputation had been
“trashed”.
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