Industrial scale abuse of Al Fayed victims

Another 12 Harrods employees, men this time, denounced the once powerful Arab owner of the expensive chain for rape and sexual abuse, increasing the already inconceivable number of alleged victims of Mohammed Al Fayed. So far, 420 women have accused the former head of the famous department store of such atrocities. According to the new complaints, the 12 employees suffered both physical and verbal violence from the tycoon himself and his bodyguards. Some of them even argue that they suffered such intimidation, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and mental injuries due to their experiences.

All charges are being promoted by the Harrods Survivors. Many of the men “have moved on to similar complaints of intimidation, humiliation, unfair dismissal or relegation due to Al Fagent,” said a source to British The Sun. “In some cases they were forced to leave work after talking openly about their traumatic experiences,” he added.

BBC documentary, aired in September, revealed that Mohammed Al Fayed, who died last year at the age of 94, sexually abused women working at the Harrods department store in London. He forced them to undergo medical tests and threatened them with consequences if they dared report him. Al Fayed had since the first moment denied the charges against him. When a comment was requested, the Harrods, now part of Qatar, referred the Reuters agency to their previous statements, where they apologized and announced that a compensation procedure had been initiated for its current and former employees. Bruce Drummond, of the lawyers handling the case, said more than 400 complaints came from women from around the world, with most of them concerning Britain, and there were also complaints from countries such as the US, Australia, Malaysia, Spain and South Africa. “This is, in my opinion, an industrial abuse,” he stressed, adding that the attacks occurred not only in Harrods, but also in other locations related to Al Fayed’s operations, such as the Fulham team field, the Ritz Hotel in Paris and his Surrey estate.

Among the victims were the daughter of a former U.S. ambassador in London and the daughter of a known footballer, although lawyers did not mention their names. The BBC documentary also reported that Harrods did not intervene to prevent abuse and helped cover up the charges during the time the department store belonged to Al Fayed. Lawyers criticized the compensation program, stressing that some victims do not feel comfortable communicating directly with the store, as they suffered abuse there. Drummond added that some high-ranking executives working at Harrods on Al Fayed continue to work there today. The charges of sexual abuse by Al Fagent had also been reported in other media before the BBC documentary, such as Vanity Fair in 1995, ITV in 1997 and Channel 4 in 2017. Lawyers said many women found the courage to speak only after Al Fayed’s death.