Two FTSE 100 insurers, a leading pension scheme and other firms quit the CBI on Friday after the employers’ organization was rocked by a second rape allegation, casting its future in doubt.
Insurers Aviva and Phoenix and the £20billion pension scheme the People’s Partnership said they were canceling their memberships after the latest allegations were published by the Guardian.
The newspaper reported that a woman was allegedly raped while working for the CBI. She was the second woman to file a rape charge involving the CBI.
“In light of the very serious allegations made and the CBI’s handling of the process and response, we believe the CBI is no longer able to fulfill its primary function – to be a representative voice for business in the UK. “Aviva said. “We have therefore unfortunately terminated our membership with immediate effect.”
The People’s Partnership, which has 6 million members, said: “Following the very serious allegations made, we have made the decision to no longer remain members of the CBI.”
Vitality, a small British health insurer, also quit, as did intellectual property chip designer Imagination Technologies.
“We don’t think they have the credibility to represent businesses at this point,” said Neville Koopowitz, Vitality’s chief executive. A person close to Imagination Technologies said the recent allegations “tipped the scales” in favor of dropping, but the original pilot was a lack of value for money.
The Association of British Insurers, the trade body for the UK insurance industry, has said it is withdrawing its membership of the CBI.
“It has become untenable to retain our membership in light of new serious and [we] informed the CBI of our decision to leave with immediate effect,” the ABI said.
Suffolk-based brewer Adnams, which has around 600 staff, said it had decided to leave the CBI after the latest allegations of sexual misconduct.
“I told the CBI that we will formally write to them and withdraw from the organization,” said Andy Wood, managing director of Adnams.
In a separate blow, Asda said it had suspended all engagements with the CBI, while Shell had already suspended business with the group a week ago, according to a person familiar with the matter. A senior executive at one of the FTSE’s 20 biggest companies has said he will stop paying his dues.
Ann Francke, chief executive of the Chartered Management Institute, a professional body that promotes better management practice, said the pattern of allegations and leadership failures now left the CBI facing an “absolutely existential crisis”.
The new rape allegation, which the CBI has now passed on to police, is the latest in a series of allegations concerning workplace culture, including sexual harassment, drug use and bullying that have rocked British employers’ organizing in recent weeks.
The CBI said on Thursday it had received information about a serious crime and was now “in close liaison” with police.
The Guardian reported that the new rape case took place at one of the CBI’s overseas offices, but declined to specify the date of the incident or the country where it occurred in order to protect the public. identity of the alleged victim.
City of London Police are already investigating an allegation of rape at a 2019 CBI staff party on a boat on the River Thames, alongside a series of other allegations of misconduct made by a dozen people who worked for the organization.
Fox Williams, the law firm, is conducting an independent investigation into these allegations at the request of the CBI, which has led to the suspension of three employees. The CBI said it plans to release the findings of the investigation early next week.
Barclays, HSBC, NatWest, Lloyds Banking Group, TSB, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Macquarie Group and Bank of Ireland have suspended business with the CBI pending the outcome of the investigation.
Separately, the CBI fired its former chief executive Tony Danker this month for past misconduct in the workplace. Danker said this week that he had been does the “fall guy” for much more serious allegations.
The Guardian report included graphic details of the second alleged rape, which the woman said took place at the hands of two men after a night of heavy drinking.
The woman said she had no memory of the rape itself, but described in detail the physical signs that led her to believe she had been raped and was later shown to the office with an explicit photograph related to the incident.
The woman told the Guardian that she blamed the CBI for allowing an atmosphere in which such incidents could occur and for failing to provide adequate human resource support.
CBI Chairman Brian McBride said the allegations reported in the Guardian were “heinous” and the CBI had not previously heard of them. “It is vital that they are now fully investigated and we are in close contact with the police to help ensure that all perpetrators are brought to justice,” he added.
The Guardian also reported on a 2018 case in which a female employee was harassed by a male colleague. An internal CBI investigation found harassment, but the incident was not reported to the police.
Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, who was then chief executive of the CBI, told the Guardian she was not made aware of the complaint, describing the decision not to bring it to her attention as “appalling”.
Additional reporting by Judith Evans, David Sheppard, Laura Onita, Owen Walker, Anna Gross and Oliver Barnes