CBI director-general Tony Danker was sacked with immediate effect on Tuesday following an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment at the employers’ organisation.
The dismissal of Danker followed an investigation by law firm Fox Williams that has caused government ministers to cold-shoulder the UK business lobby group and spawned further allegations that do not relate to Danker.
Three other CBI employees have now been suspended pending further investigation into several allegations of workplace misconduct, the CBI confirmed.
Danker was replaced by Rain Newton-Smith, the CBI’s former chief economist, who will return as director-general after a brief spell as a managing director for policy at Barclays with a mission to restore confidence in the lobby group.
The CBI acknowledged in a statement that the allegations of sexual harassment in recent weeks had been “devastating” for the organisation and that Danker’s conduct had fallen “short of that expected of the director-general”.
The report that led to Danker’s sacking has not been published. “Due to the legal confidentiality owed to all parties to the report, we cannot comment or share details of it,” the CBI said.
“We apologise to the victims of this organisational failure, including those impacted by the revulsion we have all felt at hearing their stories. Nobody should feel unsafe in their workplace,” it added.
The CBI’s struggle to draw a line under the allegations has caused the UK government and the lobby group’s members, which include the biggest names in British business, to distance themselves from the organisation, with several reviewing their membership.
Downing Street and several leading businesses said on Tuesday that engagements with the CBI had been paused pending the outcome of the investigations.
Newton-Smith said in a statement that it was a “huge privilege” to be asked to return to the CBI and that she was determined to lead the organisation at such a challenging time. “I want the CBI to be an organisation of which we can all be proud,” she added.
Before joining the CBI in 2014, Newton-Smith was head of emerging markets at the Oxford Economics consultancy and previously spent nine years at the Bank of England.
She takes over following weeks of bruising allegations about a culture of sexual harassment at the CBI, including an allegation of rape at a 2019 staff party. The organisation has cancelled all external events, including its prestigious annual dinner, as it battles to reestablish confidence.
Danker stepped aside voluntarily last month following the original complaint against him, which was followed by a second round of sexual misconduct allegations reported by The Guardian newspaper. They said that more than a dozen women had come forward with allegations of workplace misconduct by senior CBI executives.
These allegations are the subject of a continuing investigation by Fox Williams. Pending its conclusion, the CBI said it was liaising with the police and would co-operate fully with any police investigations.
The City of London Police confirmed it was investigating the claims. “We approached the CBI following media reports and our investigations are at a very early stage. It would not be appropriate to comment any further at this time,” the force said.
Danker responded to his sacking on Twitter by saying he was “truly sorry” that he had “unintentionally” made colleagues feel uncomfortable but said the allegations had been “distorted”. He added he was “shocked” that he had been “dismissed from the CBI, instead of being invited to put my position forward as was originally confirmed”.
The organisation pledged to hold a “root-and-branch” review of its organisational culture and the system for employees to make complaints, and would look to hire a new chief people officer to manage workplace conduct and culture.
