LONDON — Major business lobby group the CBI dismissed its Director General Tony Danker “with immediate effect” following a probe into claims of workplace misconduct.
The CBI, which represents big businesses in the U.K. and claims some 190,000 members, has been rocked in recent weeks by a string of allegations of sexual misconduct by senior managers. The U.K. government has paused engagement with the group as the scandal unfolds.
Danker stepped aside in March after the Guardian reported that he had been subject to a formal complaint over his behavior.
Further, separate claims against other CBI staff members then came to light, including an account from a woman who alleged she was raped at a staff party.
In a statement Tuesday, the CBI announced that Danker would be replaced by Rain Newton-Smith, the group’s former chief economist who is currently a senior manager at Barclays.
“Tony Danker is dismissed with immediate effect following the independent investigation into specific complaints of workplace misconduct against him,” it added. “The board wishes to make clear he is not the subject of any of the more recent allegations in the Guardian but has determined that his own conduct fell short of that expected of the director general.”
Three other CBI employees have now been suspended “pending further investigation into a number of ongoing allegations,” the statement added, while the CBI is “liaising with the police and has made clear its intention to cooperate fully with any police investigations.”
The lobby group — which clashed frequently with the U.K. government on Brexit but sought to repair relations with ministers in recent years — also announced that it would bring in a “new, elevated position of chief people officer” and has ordered a member of its board to “oversee a root-and-branch review of our culture, governance and processes.”
