CBI sexual misconduct claims are already a learning moment for firms

Even as the investigation is under way, employers must ensure that whistleblowers and women feel able to speak, writes James Moore

Tony Danker has stepped aside as CBI director general during the investigation (PA)

In the wake of the alleged workplace abuse scandal engulfing the CBI, any business leader appearing in the media will be asked about their membership of the lobby group.

Their answer is likely to be along the lines of that given by Andy Wood, chief executive of Suffolk brewer Adnams, who told the BBC: “I was discussing this with our senior management team only this week, so yes, it [membership] is on our agenda. But we would prefer to see the CBI sort itself out. It needs to be setting the standards here. Where we are at the moment is unacceptable.”

News of the scandal emerged when the CBI’s director general, Tony Danker, “temporarily” stepped aside while allegations of workplace misconduct were investigated. Subsequently, further allegations of wider sexual misconduct in the organisation were made by more than a dozen women, the most serious of which concerns an alleged rape during a staff party held on a boat in 2019.