Allan allegedly touched the bottom of a senior member of Tesco staff in June 2022 at the company's annual general meeting.
It is also claimed that he touched the bottom of a member of staff at the business lobbying group the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), at its annual dinner in May 2019, when he was the organisation's president.
Sources allege that Allan, 74, made inappropriate remarks on those occasions as well as separate, similar comments to two other female members of CBI staff in November 2019 and in 2021 respectively. Some of the women said they were offended by the alleged actions and considered his behaviour to be sexual harassment.
Allan has denied all but one of the allegations - making a comment about a CBI staffer's appearance that she found to be offensive in 2019. A spokesperson for Allan said the other claims were "simply untrue".
A spokesperson for Tesco said: "John Allan's conduct has never been the subject of a complaint during his tenure as chair of Tesco."
The company urged anyone with concerns or information to contact a confidential phone line.
The allegations about Allan emerged during the Guardian's investigation into the CBI, the UK's foremost business lobbying group. Allan was its president between 2018 and 2020 and then vice-president until October 2021.
He has been chair of the UK's biggest supermarket since 2015.
It comes after pleas from women's rights and trade union groups not to drop new draft legislation aimed at tackling sexual harassment in the workplace. The proposed bill would create a legal duty for employers to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace and also protect staff from third-party harassment by clients and customers.
この記事は The Guardian の May 10, 2023 版に掲載されています。
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この記事は The Guardian の May 10, 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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