After the disclosures on alleged sexual misconduct by male employees at the lobbying group led to an exodus of companies like John Lewis and NatWest, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) declared it was to halt operations until June.
The CBI’s board said it was suspending all membership and policy activity until an extraordinary meeting in June, when members will vote on its future and purpose. The Guardian has published a series of accounts of more than a dozen women who claimed they were the victims of sexual misconduct by men at the CBI, including two women who said they were raped by colleagues.
Following the most recent allegations, in which a woman claimed she was assaulted by two male coworkers at a CBI abroad office, more than 50 of the largest companies in Britain either left the organisation or cut ties with it.
Among the other prominent companies to cut ties with the CBI are Accenture, Arup, Aviva, BMW, Fidelity International, Jaguar Land Rover, Kingfisher, Phoenix Group, Sage, Tesco and Virgin Media O2.
Another lady working at the CBI's London office in the same year claimed a male coworker was stalking her both in person and online. Sources assert that despite the CBI's finding of harassment, the woman was aggressively dissuaded from filing a police report, and the alleged offender continued his employment.