A former Harrods worker has criticised Harrods for the way it handled the alleged misconduct of the store’s former owner Mohamed Al Fayed.
Five women have alleged they were raped by Fayed, who died last year at the age of 94, and a number of others have alleged sexual misconduct.
The former Harrods worker, who wished to remain anonymous, criticised Harrods for saying that Fayed’s actions were the actions of an individual. “There were people at Harrods at the time who were enablers and they are as guilty as Al Fayed, because they were not just passive onlookers. They were actually helping to send girl after girl into a total nightmare.”
The woman, who said she worked at Harrods in a junior role, said she was called up to Fayed’s office. “We went into a little room at the back, just him and me, and he said to me: ‘Come work in my office – one year here and you could be a buyer.’”
When she politely explained that she was happy where she was, she said he held her hand and asked if she had a boyfriend. “This was something that I’ve then heard he asked lots of people who’ve been interviewed over the last couple of days.”
He then informed her that he was her boyfriend, kissed her on the forehead and handed her £300 in cash. He told her to think about the job offer and come back the following week. She later returned the cash to his office in an envelope, along with a polite letter declining the job.
The former Harrods employee said after describing the encounter to her male line manager, he “brushed it off” and told her: “That’s just what he’s like.”
When she resigned shortly afterwards to pursue a different role, she said she was called to Fayed’s office to explain why she was leaving, which she found “a pretty extreme reaction, given how junior and replaceable she was”.
She said her experience “feels like absolutely nothing” compared with some of the harrowing testimony women have come forward with over the past few days. “But I think it’s important as part of building up that evidence of a pattern of behaviour.”
In its statement on the BBC documentary Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods, which aired on Thursday, Harrods said it was “a very different organisation to the one owned and controlled by Al Fayed between 1985 and 2010”.
The store added that “since new information came to light in 2023 about historic allegations of sexual abuse by Al Fayed, it has been our priority to settle claims in the quickest way possible, avoiding lengthy legal proceedings for the women involved”.
More than 150 women have made inquiries to the legal team featured on the BBC documentary since Thursday, according to the legal team representing 37 of the late billionaire’s accusers.
Richard Meeran, the co-head of the international department at the law firm Leigh Day, is representing one alleged victim. He believes there could be “hundreds” more “survivors” and is calling for a full public inquiry.