Topshop owner Philip Green has denied unlawful sexual or racist behaviour after a British politician named him as being accused of sexual harassment.
Green, whose Arcadia Group owns fashion chain Topshop and other brands, was named in the British parliament by Labour politician Peter Hain as the businessman accused of sexual harassment who had secured a court order barring the media from revealing his identity.
Green obtained a court injunction to stop the Daily Telegraph from running stories about employee allegations of sexual harassment and racial abuse.
“I am not commenting on anything that has happened in court or was said in Parliament today,” Green, 66, said in a statement on Thursday.
“To the extent that it is suggested that I have been guilty of unlawful sexual or racist behaviour, I categorically and wholly deny these allegations.”
Green said he and Arcadia take accusations from employees seriously, and that he cannot comment on confidential settlements that have been reached.
Peter Hain said he had been contacted by somebody “intimately involved” in the case.
“I feel it’s my duty under parliamentary privilege to name Philip Green as the individual in question, given that the media have been subject to an injunction preventing publication of the full details of a story which is clearly in the public interest,” he said.
Earlier in the month, Green found himself at the centre of a media storm when he tore down a display for a collection of feminist essays titled Feminists Don’t Wear Pink (and other lies) that had been erected in a Topshop.
The author Scarlett Curtis spoke out against Green amid the allegations, using the hashtag #pinknotgreen.
“This man clothed our country. This man dressed our teenage girls. This man is a racist, sexist bully. This man made me cry. This man must be stopped. Philip Green, money can’t save you. The feminists are coming & they’re wearing pink,” Curtis tweeted.
“There is no coming back”
GlobalData Retail managing director Neil Saunders commented that while many of the allegations have not yet been legally proven, they are highly damaging for both Green and the various retail businesses he is associated with.
“Unless the claims are proven, beyond all doubt, to be false then there is no coming back,” Saunders said. “Quite rightly, the stench of sexual misconduct lingers for life.
“The news is also bad for the brands owned by Green… the sexual abuse of women is not something people forgive or forget, and it will weigh on people’s minds when they decide where to shop.”
Saunders anticipates boycotts at the various brands affiliated with Green, at a time when Arcadia is struggling for growth.
Google takes stand against harassment
Technology giant Google said it had fired 48 employees over the past two years over secual harassment claims, offering no severance package for those who are dismissed in this fashion.
Thirteen senior managers were among those dismissed.
“We are dead serious about making sure we provide a safe and inclusive workplace. We want to assure you that we review every single complaint about sexual harassment or inappropriate conduct, we investgate and take action,” read a Google memo supplied to The New York Times.
– AAP
