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Manager John Allan: allegations of inappropriate and unprofessional behavior
Photo: Hannah Mckay / REUTERS
Following allegations of sexual harassment, the chairman of the supervisory board of the British supermarket chain Tesco will resign from office next month. Tesco said 74-year-old John Allan would step down at its annual general meeting on June 16 after eight years at the company. The British »Guardian« reported last week that Allan had grabbed a manager's buttocks during the 2022 Annual General Meeting.
In total, four women were preparing accusations of inappropriate and unprofessional behavior against Allan, the newspaper wrote. Tesco interim president Byron Grote said the company had not yet received a corresponding lawsuit. Nevertheless, the allegations could "distract" Tesco from its actual tasks.
Inappropriate remarks
Allan has been chief supervisor of the supermarket giant since 2015, and in 2018 and 2019 he was also chairman of the CBI. Also at a CBI event in May 2019, Allan is said to have grabbed a woman's buttocks. According to the Guardian, he was found to have made "inappropriate remarks" about female CBI employees in two cases. According to the newspaper, this included sexual harassment.
Allan had immediately denied most of the allegations, in one case he had apologized for his remarks about a CBI employee. At the time, he had only made a comment about the "figure-hugging clothing" of a woman.
Tesco said the company immediately commissioned an independent investigation into the allegations against Allan following the newspaper report. Interviews with witnesses, as well as video footage of the 2022 Annual General Meeting, would have yielded no evidence, as would the review of his tenure in the supermarket chain.
Tesco interim boss Grote thanked Allan as he bid farewell for his "considerable contribution" to the company.
AFP/dpa/rai