Following on from the scandal where Sir Peyer Hendy was exposed as paying prostitute Rachael Grundy £140 an hour after surfing an adult sex website, now a senior Transport for London manager tipped as a rising star of the organisation has been accused of sexual harassment by one woman and bullying by a staggering 45 colleagues, as revealed in the Evening Standard.
The article states:
Staff have alleged that the man bullied and intimidated them, with one female also accusing him of sexual harassment.
Insiders called the mass grievance lodged against him as “unprecedented” at the company, with the accusations now threatening to derail his career.
They also claimed the company had been slow to act after concerns were first raised - so much so that police had even been dragged into the dispute.
A source told the Standard: “The staff have lodged a formal grievance collectively. It’s unprecedented at TfL because of the numbers.
“The allegations are that he is a bully. That he intimidates people. One of the complaints is sexual harassment. There is an investigation going on at the moment but it took so long for them to act over it that the police were called.”
Another source said: “The woman involved called police because she felt TfL management and HR were doing nothing about it.”
It is understood the manager has not been suspended but is currently not working in his post.
The grievance was lodged before Christmas, with the alleged behaviour going on “for some time”.
News of the allegations will be a disappointment to TfL boss Sir Peter Hendy, although after Hendy's adulterous indiscretion, which was quickly swept under the carpet, this now seems a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
The organisation allegedly takes a hard line approach to harassment, with staff told that they must not do anything “whilst on or off duty which could damage TfL’s reputation”.
Bosses are currently investigating the allegations.
They will then file a report, and the investigation officer will decide what sanctions, if any, to apply if the allegations are proven
Unions Unite and Unison are understood to be representing the staff complaining. A Unison spokeswoman confirmed it was currently involved in a “serious matter” involving members at TfL.
She said: “There is an ongoing internal investigation related to serious allegations at TfL. It is therefore inappropriate for us to comment any further at this stage of the process.”
A TfL spokesman said: “We take any allegations of harassment very seriously with firm policies and procedures in place.
“In this case an independent investigation is already under way.”
EDITORIAL COMMENT:
Unfortunately we have seen TfL policy counts for nothing when it comes to the crunch. After private hire company RD2.com was accused of gaining 18 satellite office licences contra to TfL policy, Taxi Leaks was told they could and would do what ever they liked and that policy was just guild lines and not set in stone.
Expect this story to disappear under a blanket of silence.