CBI chief Tony Danker was sacked with immediate effect last week after allegations of misconduct rocked the influential business group.
In his first interview since his sacking, Danker told BBC Radio 4's Today program on Wednesday that his reputation had been “totally destroyed” following allegations of sexual misconduct, claiming he had been made a “scapegoat” by the business body.
Below we take a look at who exactly the former CBI director general is, what are the allegations leveled against him and what he has said in response.
Former CBI chief Tony Danker with Rishi Sunak at the CBI annual conference in 2022
(PENNSYLVANIA)
Who is Tony Danker?
Danker was appointed to the top job at the CBI, Britain's biggest business lobby group, in 2020, from the charity Be the Business, a collaboration between the government and some of the biggest companies in the world. United Kingdom.
Before that, he had spent seven years as chief strategy officer at Guardian News & Media, the company behind the newspaper of the same name.
He had previously worked as a consultant and policy advisor in the Cabinet Office and Treasury during Gordon Brown's time as Prime Minister.
His first job after leaving Manchester University was working for the former chief rabbi, the late Lord Jonathan Sacks.
Born in 1971 in Belfast, Mr Danker now lives in London, is married and has two children.
The CBI is one of the most influential business groups in the country. It represents around 190,000 businesses across the UK, which together employ almost seven million people.
The power of the group is clearly visible when looking at the events it organizes throughout the year. Prime ministers, Bank of England governors, opposition leaders, the Archbishop of Canterbury and even US Secretary of State John Kerry have spoken at events organized by the group.
Danker was appointed to the CBI's top job in 2020, coming from the charity Be the Business, a collaboration between the government and some of the UK's largest businesses.
(PA Wire)
What are the allegations that have shaken the CBI?
Early last month, Danker resigned from his position as CBI director-general after a woman employed by the group accused him of making unwanted contact that she said amounted to sexual harassment.
A month after that report was published, The Guardian said it had been approached by more than a dozen women who claimed to be victims of sexual misconduct by senior CBI officials. One said she had been raped at a staff party on a boat on the Thames. Many of them predate Mr. Danker's time at the CBI.
What has happened since then?
Since the first allegations were published in early March, the CBI has launched an investigation into its culture, led by an outside law firm.
Ministers and senior officials in government departments have reportedly suspended their collaboration with the CBI and questions have been raised over the group's future.
Police have launched an investigation into various allegations of sexual misconduct at the organization.
What has been Tony Danker's response?
In his first interview since his dismissal, Danker told the BBC that his name had been wrongly associated with separate claims.
He also told the broadcaster that his dismissal letter cited four reasons for his dismissal: for organizing a secret and private karaoke party for 15 people, for viewing the Instagram accounts of CBI staff, for sending messages unrelated to work to staff and by inviting young staff to breakfasts, lunches or individual meetings.
While Danker acknowledged that he had made some staff feel “very uncomfortable” and apologized for it, the former CBI chief insisted he had “never used sexually suggestive language with people” in the company.
Danker believed he had been named “the scapegoat” for a wider crisis engulfing the lobby group facing a series of claims, some of which predate Danker's time at the CBI.
Danker said his reputation had been “totally shattered” because other allegations not relating to him, including drug use and serious sexual assault, emerged a few weeks after the CBI revealed it was investigating separate allegations of misconduct at his against.
He admitted sending messages to around 200 of the company's staff, but insisted it was to try to establish a “relationship” during lockdown and with colleagues who were still working from home.
Detective Chief Superintendent Richard Waight previously confirmed that City of London Police approached the CBI following reports of misconduct in the media, but investigations were still at a “very early stage”.
The former CBI chief responded to his dismissal by saying that the allegations against him had been “distorted”.
