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The mounting claims against the late Mohamed Al Fayed have shocked the industry, and the world. Al Fayed allegedly raped and sexually assaulted several women when he was the owner of London’s iconic luxury department store Harrods. On 20 September, a team of lawyers announced plans to bring a global civil lawsuit against Harrods for failing to protect female employees from abuse. To date, the team represents 60 women; it is working through another 200 enquiries.
Al Fayed, who died last year, was a “monster enabled by a system that pervaded Harrods”, the lawyers said. Harrods, which is under different ownership today, has issued a statement apologising for Al Fayed’s actions and accepted “vicarious liability” (when an employer takes responsibility for an employee’s actions).
For many working in the fashion retail industry, claims of inappropriate behaviour are a familiar tale. A string of allegations have been made against industry CEOs and founders in recent history. Among them, in 2019, former Arcadia Group owner Philip Green and Ted Baker founder Ray Kelvin were both accused of inappropriate conduct towards female staff within their companies (they denied the claims). In the US, American Apparel founder Dov Charney was fired in 2014 after allegations were made against him of sexual harassment and sexual assault (he too has denied any wrongdoing).
In 2021, Asos launched an internal investigation after a series of anonymous posts were published on Instagram, levelling allegations of inappropriate behaviour from senior staff at the retailer. It is understood the review found a handful of isolated instances of inappropriate behaviour and action was taken with the individuals concerned; since then Asos has strengthened its processes in certain areas, including setting out more clearly how and when people can report issues and through which channels, and the policy on relationships at work.
Industry sources say there has been progress — the #metoo movement that started in 2017 helped more women feel able to speak out — but parts of fashion retail are still dogged by misogyny. It raises the question: how can retail better protect its workers?
“I think there is more awareness of misogynistic, predatory and sexist behaviour in retail than there used to be. There are also more protections. That makes it more difficult for unethical leaders to cover things up,” says Neil Saunders, managing director of retail research agency and consulting firm Globaldata. “However, there are still power imbalances and the idea that misogyny has been eliminated completely is, sadly, fanciful.”
