Philip Green has been named as the “leading businessman” that obtained a privacy injunciton stop the press from publishing allegations made by former employees.
The 66-year-old is the chairman of Arcadia group, which owns fashion brands Topshop and Dorothy Perkins.
Lord Peter Hain, the former leader of the House of Commons, said today [October 25] that he felt a “duty” to reveal Green’s name under parliamentary privilege.
Lord Hain, a Labour peer, told the House of Lords [via The Telegraph]:
“I have been contacted by someone intimately involved in the case of a powerful businessman using non-disclosure agreements and substantial payments to conceal [allegations] about serious and repeated sexual harassment, racist abuse and bullying.
“I feel it’s my duty under parliamentary privilege to name Philip Green as the individual in question, given that the media have been subjected to an injunction preventing publication of the full details of a story which is clearly in the public interest.”
Earlier this week, three Court of Appeal judges barred the publication fro publishing “confidential information” that could have identified the man.
According to Metro, five employees of companies within the group had made allegations about “discreditable conduct” by the executive. However, many were bound by non-discolusre agreements.
In the five cases, the complaints had been “compromised by settlement agreements” where “substantial payments” were made to the employees.
According to The Independent, the judgement – which was delivered on Tuesday – said that of the five complaints in the case, two of them supported the gag order. One of them wanted to protect their privacy.
