Tony Danker, the boss of the Confederation of British Industry, has stepped aside amid an investigation into complaints about his conduct.
The decision to hire a law firm to investigate him comes after the Guardian approached the CBI last week about a formal complaint that was made in January, as well a number of alleged informal reports of concerns over his behaviour.
The formal complaint involved a female CBI employee who it is understood claimed the director general of the business lobbying organisation made unwanted contact with her and considered this unwanted conduct to be sexual harassment.
Danker continued in his role after the formal complaint was made, representing the influential organisation in the media and at public events, most recently a CBI conference last Wednesday where the keynote speaker was the education secretary, Gillian Keegan.
The CBI confirmed it had received a formal complaint about Danker’s “workplace conduct” in January but opted not to escalate it to a disciplinary process.
“The allegation was investigated thoroughly and was dealt with comprehensively, in line with CBI procedure,” said the CBI president, Brian McBride. “The CBI investigation determined that the issue did not require escalation to a disciplinary process.”
After the Guardian inquired on Thursday about the formal complaint and raised several additional allegations about Danker’s behaviour towards other members of staff, including concern that the director general had been viewing employees’ personal Instagram profiles, the CBI said it had started an independent investigation and that Danker had asked to step aside during it.
It has hired Joanna Chatterton, the head of employment law at Fox Williams, to lead the investigation. Matthew Fell, the CBI’s chief UK policy director, has replaced Danker on an interim basis.
McBride said: “On 2 March, the CBI was made aware of new reports regarding Tony Danker’s workplace conduct. We have now taken steps to initiate an independent investigation into these new matters. Tony Danker asked to step aside from his role as director general of the CBI while the independent investigation into these matters takes place.
“The CBI takes all matters of workplace conduct extremely seriously but it is important to stress that until this investigation is complete, any new allegations remain unproven and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”
It is alleged that as well as unwanted verbal remarks in the office, the UK’s most senior business lobbyist also sent her a barrage of unwanted messages, some featuring sexually suggestive language, over more than a year.
The CBI is understood to argue that the complainant only raised concerns about unwanted verbal contact, but did not complain about messages or their frequency.
Danker said: “It’s been mortifying to hear that I have caused offence or anxiety to any colleague. It was completely unintentional, and I apologise profusely.
“The CBI is the employers’ organisation, and I am very proud to be its leader. We always strive for the highest standards. I therefore support the decision we’ve taken to review any new allegations independently. And I have decided to step aside while the review takes place and will cooperate fully with it.”
An internal email, sent by McBride to all CBI staff after the Guardian published its report, shared copies of its anti-harassment, disciplinary and grievance policies.
“I want to be clear: all allegations regarding workplace conduct are taken extremely seriously,” he wrote. “We can assure you, anything you raise will be taken seriously and be dealt with in the strictest confidence.
“We recognise that no workplace, including ours is immune from these types of challenges.”
It also shared a link for anonymous complaints, and told staff not to discuss any complaints or queries about the investigation with journalists.
Danker has led the CBI, which calls itself the UK’s “premier business organisation”, since November 2020. It claims to represent 190,000 businesses, including Lloyds Bank, Tesco and HSBC, and has regular interactions with the prime minister and members of the cabinet.
He has tried to rebuild its relationship with the government after the CBI was frozen out by Boris Johnson’s administration because of its anti-Brexit stance.
During his tenure Danker has spoken out about empowering women and boosting childcare funding to increase female participation in the workforce.
Danker, the Belfast-born former chief executive of the business lobby group Be the Business, previously worked at the Guardian’s parent company, Guardian News & Media, as international director and chief strategy officer between 2010 and 2017.
Prior to working at the Guardian he was a policy adviser during the Labour government from 2008 to 2010 in the Cabinet Office and the Treasury.
