CBI crisis deepens with further allegations

A second allegation of rape by a woman employed by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has plunged the business lobbying group into further crisis after a series of revelations of sexual misconduct and harassment.

The employee told The Guardian that she was raped by two male colleagues while working at an overseas office of the organisation, and reportedly blamed the culture at the CBI for staff thinking they “could act in this way and afterwards feel no worries, no fear of consequences”.

She is the second woman to say she was raped while working for the CBI. Her claims follow allegations of sexual misconduct reported by the same paper earlier this month from more than a dozen other female CBI employees.

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“These latest allegations put to us by The Guardian are abhorrent,” the CBI president, Brian McBride, said in a statement. The CBI was “liaising closely” with the police, he added.

The scandal at the CBI “has seen at least 12 women complain about misconduct and senior members consider their positions with the organisation”, reported Sky News.

A number of allegations “are the subject of an investigation by the City of London Police”, the broadcaster added, and three employees have been suspended by the CBI.

In addition, the lobby group dismissed its director-general Tony Danker last week following a separate investigation into unrelated allegations of misconduct and sexual harassment. “Many of the allegations against me have been distorted,” Danker tweeted, “but I recognise that I unintentionally made a number of colleagues feel uncomfortable and I am truly sorry about that.”

Danker told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he felt he had been “the fall guy” for the recent, more serious allegations against others, and that his reputation had been “trashed” by his former employer.

“I have never used sexually suggestive language with people at the CBI. I have never had any physical contact. I’ve never propositioned anybody.”

The CBI’s president said Danker’s description of events was “selective”, according to The Guardian.